Walk-in, walk out: Ontario clinics have the shortest wait times in Canada

If you live in Ontario, you’ll likely have the shortest wait time compared to everyone else in the country to get help at a walk-in clinic.

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. Ontario is doing pretty well compared to other provinces. In fact, we have the shortest wait time nationwide.

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

It found that, on average, Ontarians only had to wait 15 minutes to see a physician at a walk-in clinic last year.

That represents a decrease of 11 minutes compared to the average 26-minute wait in 2019.

And of the top 10 cities with the shortest wait times across the country, eight were in Ontario.

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

Here are the cities with the shortest average wait times in Ontario:

Brampton – nine minutes
Mississauga – nine minutes
Thornhill – 10 minutes
Etobicoke – 11 minutes
Scarborough – 12 minutes
Sudbury – 12 minutes
St. Catharines – 13 minutes
Hamilton – 14 minutes

In Toronto, the average wait time is just four minutes above the province’s 15-minute average of 19 minutes.

However, not all Ontario cities fared well.

With a 51-minute average wait, Burlington ranked at number seven in the top 10 Canadian cities with the longest wait time. London came in at ninth place with an average wait of 49 minutes.

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

“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.”

Seven of the cities with the longest wait times are in BC, where people saw their wait times increase by 15 minutes from 43 minutes in 2019 to 58 minutes in 2021.

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

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For more information, check out the index online.