These Canadian provinces have the worst and best access to health care
Where you live in Canada could make a huge difference in how easily you can access doctors, hospitals, and other health-care services. A new study has revealed which provinces are doing best and which need improvement.
Online health-care service MedExpress Canada ranked all 10 provinces based on five factors; unmet health-care needs carried the most weight in the rankings at 30 per cent, followed by travel burden (25 per cent), physician supply (20 per cent), wait times (15 per cent), and search interest (10 per cent).
The findings reveal significant differences across the country, with Atlantic Canada facing the biggest challenges overall.
Prince Edward Island ranks as the hardest province in Canada to access health care. The province reportedly has the highest rate of unmet health-care needs, at 13.9 per cent, while residents also face long travel distances and lengthy waits for treatment.
Meanwhile, Quebec ranks as the easiest province to access health care. It has among the highest numbers of family doctors per capita, below-average unmet health-care needs at 8.7 per cent, and shorter treatment waits than most provinces.
One might think having more doctors would mean faster access to care. On the contrary, New Brunswick has the highest number of family doctors per capita in Canada but also the longest health-care wait times. According to the report, patients wait an average of 60.9 weeks between receiving a referral and getting treatment, compared to just 19.2 weeks in Ontario.
Travel is another roadblock for Canadians, particularly in Newfoundland and Labrador. Residents face the longest average trip to an emergency room, at 20.3 kilometres, and the second-longest trip to a doctor, at 24.3 kilometres.
On the flip side, B.C. has the least travel issues, with residents travelling an average of just 12 kilometres to see a doctor and 9.2 kilometres to get to an emergency room.
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The study also looks at how often Canadians search online for services such as walk-in clinics, prescription refills, and doctors who are accepting new patients.
Ontario has the highest search volume, with approximately 38,200 searches per 100,000 residents.
B.C., Alberta, and Manitoba followed, each recording around 19,600 to 20,800 searches per 100,000 people.
Interestingly, Saskatchewan has the highest search rate for doctors accepting new patients, at 295 searches per 100,000 residents. P.E.I. leads the country in searches for prescription refills, at 104 per 100,000 people.
Here’s how Canadian provinces rank for health-care access, from worst to best:
- Prince Edward Island
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Nova Scotia
- New Brunswick
- Saskatchewan
- Ontario
- Alberta
- Manitoba
- British Columbia
- Quebec
You can read MedExpress Canada’s full report on its website.