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Toronto Sun
06-05-2025
- Health
- Toronto Sun
Waiting for health care cost Canadians $5.2 billion last year: study
Get the latest from Lorrie Goldstein straight to your inbox Medical wait times cost Canadians waiting for treatment almost $5.2 billion in lost wages last year, according to the Fraser Institute. Photo by iStock / GETTY IMAGES Canada's medical wait times — among the longest in the developed world — cost Canadians waiting for treatment almost $5.2 billion in lost wages last year, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The report by the fiscally conservative think tank — 'The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care' — estimated 1.5 million Canadians waiting for care in 2024 lost an average of $3,364 due to lost salaries and reduced productivity. 'Waiting for medically necessary treatment remains a hallmark of the Canadian health-care system and in addition to pain and suffering — and potentially worse medical outcomes — these long waits also cost Canadians time at work and with family and friends,' said Nadeem Esmail, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute. The calculations were based on a survey of Canadian physicians who reported a median wait time of 15 weeks from an appointment with a specialist to treatment in 2024 for patients in 12 medical specialities, including general, orthopaedic and cardiovascular surgery, internal medicine, ophthalmology and cancer treatment. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The study says its estimate is conservative because it doesn't include the median wait time of an additional 15 weeks to see a specialist after a referral from a general practitioner. It also doesn't include the value of the time patients spend waiting for treatment outside of normal working hours. Valuing all hours of the week, including evenings and week-ends while excluding eight hours of sleep per night, the study says, would dramatically increase the cost of waiting for medical treatment to $15.9 billion in 2024, or an average of $10,266 per patient. 'As long as lengthy wait times define Canada's health-care system, patients will continue to pay a price for lost wages and reduced quality of life,' Esmail said. The study found patients waiting for necessary medical treatment in P.E.I. lost the highest amount of wages in 2024 — an average of $6,592 — followed in descending order by patients living in New Brunswick ($6,210); Quebec ($4,261); Alberta ($3,732); Newfoundland and Labrador ($3,674); Saskatchewan ($3,398); British Columbia ($3,101); Manitoba ($2,784); Ontario ($2,511) and Nova Scotia ($2,387). International studies of Canada's health-care system — administered by the provinces with the federal government responsible for ensuring universality, portability, public administration, comprehensiveness, and accessibility — consistently find some of the longest medical wait times in the developed world among comparable countries with universal health care.
Cision Canada
06-05-2025
- Health
- Cision Canada
Fraser Institute News Release: Medical wait times cost Canadian patients almost $5.2 billion in lost wages last year
VANCOUVER, BC, May 6, 2025 /CNW/ - Long waits for surgery and medical treatment cost Canadians almost $5.2 billion in lost wages and productivity last year, finds a new study released by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank. An estimated 1.5 million patients waited for medically necessary treatment last year, and each lost an estimated $3,364 (on average) due to lost wages and reduced productivity during working hours. "Waiting for medically necessary treatment remains a hallmark of the Canadian health-care 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," said Nadeem Esmail, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute. The study, The Private Cost of Public Queues for Medically Necessary Care, 2025, draws upon data from the Fraser Institute's annual Waiting Your Turn survey of Canadian physicians who, in 2024, reported the national median waiting time from specialist appointment to treatment was 15 weeks. Crucially, the $5.2 billion in lost wages is likely a conservative estimate because it doesn't account for the additional 15 week wait to see a specialist after receiving a referral from a general practitioner. Taken together, the total median wait time in Canada for medical treatment was 30 weeks in 2024. "As long as lengthy wait times define Canada's health-care system, patients will continue to pay a price in lost wages and reduced quality of life," said Esmail. Because wait times and incomes vary by province, so does the cost of waiting for health care. Residents of Prince Edward Island in 2024 faced the highest per-patient cost of waiting ($6,592), followed by New Brunswick ($6,210) and Quebec ($4,261). Average value of time lost during the work week in 2024 for patients waiting for medically necessary treatment (by province): Follow the Fraser Institute on Twitter, Like us on Facebook About The Fraser Institute The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit SOURCE The Fraser Institute
