Canadians lose at least $5.2B annually waiting for medical treatment
Canadians are losing millions of hours of productivity and billions of dollars in income while stuck on waitlists for medically necessary treatments.
Author: Noah Jarvis
Canadians are losing millions of hours of productivity and billions of dollars in income while stuck on waitlists for medically necessary treatments.
A new report from the Fraser Institute estimates the private costs borne by individuals waiting in increasingly long queues for essential care.
In 2024, the average wait time from referral by a general practitioner to receiving treatment has grown to 30 weeks—up from the previous year. The wait time between seeing a specialist and getting treatment now averages 15 weeks.
