Walk-in clinic wait times have skyrocketed across Canada

Canadians experienced a surge in walk-in clinic wait times in 2022, a new report has found.

Medimap released new data in its Walk-in Wait Time Index, reporting a 12-minute increase in the average wait time it takes to see a physician, compared to 2021.

Canada’s doctors and nurses have been sounding the alarm on provincial healthcare systems being on the brink of collapse.

The average walk-in clinic wait time stood at 37 minutes last year. This is especially critical considering millions of Canadians are unable to find family doctors, and have had to resort to walk-ins.

Medimap

According to Medimap data, which covers BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia, all provinces studied showed an uptick in wait times.

BC, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia were “well above” the national average of 37 minutes. In BC, the number stood at a whopping 79 minutes, going up from an already-long 58 minutes in 2021. North Vancouver had the highest wait time at 160 minutes, and Victoria followed right after.

Medimap

Most Nova Scotians had to wait for 83 minutes on average — a 39-minute increase since 2021.

Alberta, Ontario, and Manitoba experienced below-average wait times. Ontario had the shortest average wait time — 25 minutes — only 10 minutes longer than what 2021 data showed. In Brampton, Ontario, the shortest wait time was observed at 10 minutes.

Albertans saw wait times go from a manageable 18 minutes to a difficult 34 minutes.

Province vs Province Comparison
Province	Avg wait (mins) 2022	Avg wait (mins) 2021	Increase/ Decrease in wait times (+/-)
NS	83	44	+39
BC	79	58	+21
SK	51	31	+20
AB	34	18	+16
MB	31	20	+11
ON	25	15	+10
National Avg	37	25	+12

Statistics Canada reported in 2019 that approximately 4.6 million Canadians did not have regular access to a primary care provider. That was then — the situation may be much worse now.

Last May, the Canadian Medical Association sounded alarm bells saying that Canada is “critically” low on family physicians. The association called for immediate government action during what the organization calls “a growing crisis.”

“The drastic increase in average wait times at walk-in clinics provides further evidence that healthcare systems across the country are struggling to provide adequate care,” said Thomas Jankowski, CEO of Medimap.

With files from Daily Hive’s Isabelle Docto

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