The average Canadian is now waiting over SIX MONTHS to get the healthcare they need

The Canadian healthcare system has been at a tipping point since the pandemic began, and now, wait times for those seeking medical attention have soared to record highs.

A new report from Fraser Institute revealed that this year’s average waiting period to receive much-needed healthcare stood at a whopping 27.4 weeks — nearly six-and-a-half months.

Experts examined the total wait time faced by patients across 12 medical specialties from a referral by a general practitioner — or your family doctor — to consultation with a specialist, and ultimately, to when the patient receives treatment.

The Institute began measuring healthcare waiting periods in 1993, when it took just about 9.3 weeks to get medical attention. Wait times had already broken records in 2021 at 25.6 weeks.

The situation varies drastically across provinces, with Ontario recording the shortest wait times at 20.3 weeks and Prince Edward Island having the longest spans at 64.7 weeks. Data for the latter was, however, limited.

Fraser Institute

Nationally, people needing radiation treatment experienced the shortest wait times to receive procedures (3.9 weeks), but Canadians waiting for brain surgery had to wait over a year — a shocking 58.9 weeks.

According to the report, physicians are saying their patients are waiting over six weeks longer for treatment than what is “clinically reasonable” — and this is after they’ve seen a specialist for their medical issue.

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And though things have been dire since COVID-19 hit the world, is it really to be fully blamed for this healthcare failure? Perhaps not.

Director of the Fraser Institute’s Centre for Health Policy Studies, Bacchus Barua, said this year’s survey results indicate that COVID-19 and related hospital closures have “exacerbated, but are not the cause, of Canada’s historic wait times challenges.”

“Previous results revealed that patients waited an estimated 20.9 weeks for medically necessary elective care in 2019—long before the pandemic started,” Barua noted.

Experts are sounding the alarm on this failure of the system.

“[These wait times] aren’t simply minor inconveniences, they can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death,” warned Mackenzie Moir, Fraser Institute policy analyst.