Queen’s Park is throwing money at the problem and hoping it will disappear.
wait times
The estimated wait this year between referral from a GP to receipt of treatment was 20 weeks—the longest ever in the history of our survey.
Only four provinces allow people to buy private insurance for the kinds of health care provided by the government system.
Nearly every other developed country pursues universal health care through a combination of government, private non-profit and for-profit institutions.
As is often the case in U.S. politics—though normally on the Democratic side of the aisle—Canada’s health care system was raised as a functioning alternative to the American model. Specifically, GOP front-runner Donald Trump described Canada’s health care system as working just fine.
British Columbia’s health ministry recently announced it will invest $10 million to increase surgical capacity, with an eye on reducing wait times.
You know things are bad when the best you can say is “at least it hasn’t gotten any worse.” That, essentially, is the main takeaway from the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s updated report on wait times for healthcare in Canada.