Fraser Institute study shows wait times for specialists and treatments is 30 weeks, highest ever recorded
A Fraser Institute study revealed that Canadians waited longer than ever for medical treatment in 2024, with a median wait time of 30 weeks from referral by a general practitioner to treatment.
The study, ‘Waiting Your Turn: Wait Times for Health Care in Canada, 2024,’ is based on a survey of physicians across Canada and examines wait times across 12 medical specialties.
“While most Canadians understand that wait times are a major problem, we've now reached an unprecedented and unfortunate milestone for delayed access to care,” said Bacchus Barua, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report.
The 2024 median wait time of 30 weeks is the longest recorded, surpassing 27.7 weeks in 2023 and 20.9 weeks in 2019, before the pandemic.
This represents a 222 percent increase compared to the 9.3 weeks recorded in 1993 when the Fraser Institute began tracking wait times.
Ontario reported the shortest median wait time at 23.6 weeks, up from 21.6 weeks in 2023. Prince Edward Island experienced the longest wait at 77.4 weeks.
However, the report advises caution when interpreting data for PEI due to fewer survey responses.
Across medical specialties, the longest national median wait times were for orthopedic surgery (57.5 weeks) and neurosurgery (46.2 weeks).
In contrast, radiation treatment (4.5 weeks) and medical oncology (4.7 weeks) recorded the shortest wait times.
Diagnostic technologies also showed significant delays, with median wait times of 16.2 weeks for MRIs, 8.1 weeks for CT scans, and 5.2 weeks for ultrasounds.
“Long wait times can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death,” noted Mackenzie Moir, senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute and study co-author.
