More than 3 million Canadians currently waiting for surgeries, specialists and scans: data shows
CTV
Recent data from a Regina-based think tank shows that roughly one in eight Canadians are currently waiting for healthcare services across the country.
Recent data from a Regina-based think tank shows that roughly one in eight Canadians are currently waiting for healthcare services across the country.
Secondstreet.org, a public policy think tank headquartered in Regina, Sask., released data sets from its CanadaWaits project on Tuesday.
According to the numbers, 631,527 people are currently waiting for surgeries across Canada.
A total of 1,083,957 people are waiting to see a specialist – while 1,419,369 residents are waiting for diagnostic care.
The organization noted that several provinces did not provide complete data on waitlist numbers. SecondStreet estimates the actual total to exceed five million – or one in eight Canadians.
“Overall, we’ve seen a rise in patients waiting. This is not good news,” spokesperson Dom Lucyk said in the organization’s news release. “We’ve seen positive movement in some parts of the country, but overall, we’re going in the wrong direction.”
The few positive signs the report hints at are advances in Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
