Millions of Canadians Remain on Health-Care Waiting Lists: Report

Despite a slight improvement in health-care wait times, 3–5 million Canadians are still on waiting lists, according to a recent report.
The findings, by think tank SecondStreet, include provincial data on wait-lists for surgery, diagnostic testing, and consultation with specialists. They show 1.5 million people are waiting for diagnostic support, another million are on hold to see a specialist, and more than 600,000 Canadians are awaiting surgery.
A total of more than 3.2 million Canadians are waiting for surgery, a diagnostic scan, or to see a specialist, and the actual number could even be higher, SecondStreet said. Several provinces had incomplete data, and two of them, Prince Edward Island and Yukon, provided no data at all.
“Despite record health spending by provincial governments to reduce wait times, improvements to waiting lists have been quite sluggish,” said Harrison Fleming, legislative and policy director at SecondStreet.org.
“With more than three million Canadians waiting today – nearly the same number since Canada came out of the pandemic – it’s clear that throwing money at the problem isn’t the answer.”
In British Columbia, 98,042 patients were waiting for surgery, up 10.4 percent from 2022. Another 204,737 residents were waiting for diagnostic testing. Comparative data from 2022 was not available.
Alberta saw its surgery wait-list grow to 78,525 patients, up 4.3 percent, and the number waiting for diagnostic care increased nearly 3 percent to 111,725. The Alberta government said there is a larger pool of health providers than two years ago and cautioned against comparisons with previous years, the report said.
Saskatchewan saw a 22 percent drop, to 27,846, in the number of residents waiting for surgery. It also saw an 11 percent decline in those waiting for diagnostic testing, to 18,352 patients.
Manitoba saw a 16 percent increase in both the numbers waiting for surgery (10,360) and a diagnostic scan (65,661).
Ontario’s surgery wait-list decreased by 19 percent to 185,081 patients, but it also saw a 32 percent increase in its diagnostic wait-list to 608,010.
Quebec had a substantial drop in numbers waiting for diagnostic tests, decreasing 42 percent to 404,226 patients. However, the province saw a 4 percent increase, to 827,858, in those waiting to see a specialist and a 0.7 percent increase, to 161,760, in those waiting for surgery.
New Brunswick had a 2 percent increase in those waiting for surgery, to 26,646. No other data was available from the province.
In Newfoundland, little data was available apart from a diagnostic wait-list of 35,484, down 31 percent.
Nova Scotia saw a 33.5 percent drop in those waiting for surgery, to 17,447. There were 82,834 people on the diagnostic wait-list and 3,079 waiting for a specialist, with no comparative data available.
Nunavut saw a 126 percent increase in patients waiting for diagnostic testing, to 68, and a 30 percent increase in those waiting for surgery, to 825 patients. There was an 80 percent drop to 749 in those waiting to see a specialist.
SecondStreet president Colin Craig said waiting list analysis should be a national priority.
“We’re doing our part to track the data, but can governments really fix this problem if they don’t even care to understand it?” Craig asked.
“It’s amazing how many health ministers in Canada don’t know how many patients are waiting for health services, particularly when it comes to appointments with specialists.”