Walk in, walk out: Alberta clinics have some of the shortest wait times in Canada

Need to see a doctor? Walk-in clinics in Alberta have some of the shortest wait times in the country, according to new research.

A Canadian tech company used by over 70% of walk-in medical clinics across the country made its own Walk-in Clinic Wait Time Index, and fared quite well compared to several other provinces. In fact, we did the second-best nationwide.

Medimap’s index collected data from over 1,200 walk-in clinics across Canada in 2021.

We have officially released the Medimap Walk-in Clinic Wait Time Index. This index looks at the data collected from over 1200 walk-in clinics across Canada in 2021.

Find out if your city has the longest or shortest wait time in your province. https://t.co/6fSRGwnvnK pic.twitter.com/UvXnSjDkIQ

— Medimap (@MedimapHealth) April 21, 2022

It found that, on average, Albertans had to wait 18 minutes to see a physician at a walk-in clinic last year.

That represents a decrease of seven minutes from 2019 and is seven minutes less than the national average of 25 minutes.

In Calgary, the index averaged a wait time of 15 minutes. In Edmonton, it was about 21 minutes. The hamlet of Sherwood Park, Alberta, had the shortest time, at only four minutes.

Despite the low province-wide wait times, one Alberta city fell among the top 10 spots with the longest average wait times across the country.

Those visiting walk-in clinics in Grande Prairie had an average wait time of 45 minutes, well above the usual wait in Alberta.

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The longest wait time across the country was reported in Victoria, with a whopping estimate of over 2.5 hours — specifically, 161 minutes.

On the other end of the spectrum were Brampton and Mississauga, both with a wait time of only nine minutes, the shortest out of major Canadian cities.

Courtesy of Medimap

“Many Canadians rely on walk-in clinics when they need to see a doctor. We created Medimap as a simple solution that saves time and frustration for these people when they need access to care,” said Blake Adam, CEO and Founder of Medimap.

“By partnering with clinic owners to provide patients with easy access to wait times at clinics in their community we are able to significantly improve access to care and contribute to a more efficient health care system,” Adam added.

Navigating how walk-in clinics work can be challenging. Check out this guide to walk-in clinics in Canada with FAQs we often get. Don’t see your question? Reply and let us know so we can add it. https://t.co/xyItv8pkof pic.twitter.com/UdYOZoVEGp

— Medimap (@MedimapHealth) January 25, 2022

Ontario had the shortest average wait times for the year, while BC saw the highest.

In Ontario, patients only had to wait about 15 minutes to see a physician. That number jumped to an average of 58 minutes for patients in BC.

Both Ontario’s and Alberta’s wait times improved over the past two years. So did Manitoba’s, with an average wait time of 20 minutes, and Saskatchewan’s with 31 minutes.

Courtesy of Medimap

For more information, check out the index online.

With files from Aly Laube