Long waits for surgery and medical treatment cost Canadians almost $3.6 billion in lost wages and productivity last year, says a study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. It estimates 1.2 million patients waited for medically necessary treatment last year and each lost, on average, an estimated $2,925 in lost wages and reduced productivity during working hours.
Long waits for surgery and medical treatment cost Canadians almost $3.6 billion in lost wages and productivity last year, says a study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. It estimates 1.2 million patients waited for medically necessary treatment last year and each lost, on average, an estimated $2,925 in lost wages and reduced productivity during working hours.
“Waiting for medically necessary treatment remains a hallmark of the Canadian healthcare system and, in addition to increased pain and suffering and potentially worse medical outcomes, these long waits also cost Canadians time at work and with family and friends,” says Bacchus Barua, director of health policy studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of ‘The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, 2023.’ It shows the national median waiting time from specialist appointment to treatment was 14.8 weeks after a 12.6-week wait to see a specialist after a referral from a general practitioner. Taken together (12.6 and 14.8 weeks), the total median wait time in Canada for medical treatment was 27.4 weeks in 2022 ‒ the longest in the survey’s history.
This makes the $3.6 billion in lost wages likely a conservative estimate because it doesn’t account for all of the wait time. “As long as lengthy wait times define Canada’s healthcare system, patients will continue to pay a price in lost wages and reduced quality of life,” says Mackenzie Moir, a Fraser Institute policy analyst and study co-author.
