Canada ranked dead last on wait times for specialist care and non-emergency surgeries.
universal health care
Among countries with universal health care, Canada has some of the lowest numbers of physicians, hospital beds and MRI machines.
The median wait time in Ontario last year (21.6 weeks) was more than twice as long as the 9.1-week wait in 1993.
Australia’s health-care system outperformed Canada’s on many measures including the availability of physicians and hospital beds.
Ottawa's plan won’t replace existing provincial and territorial programs that already cover some oral health services.
The province's average wait time for health care grew from 18.5 weeks in 2008 to 33.5 weeks in 2023.
The province's health-care wait times are longer than the national average.
Among universal health-care countries, Canada ranked 28th out of 30 for the number of physicians available per 1,000 people.