Canadian patients are missing out on faster access to cutting-edge medical technologies because of rigid bureaucracy, centralized funding models, and slow approval systems, according to a new Economic Note from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI).The report argues that Canada’s healthcare structure discourages hospitals and administrators from adopting innovation, leaving patients treated with older tools and sending many abroad for care that is routinely available in other developed countries.“Because of the lack of incentives in the current system, administrators often see the adoption of new technologies solely as a risk,” said Emmanuelle B. Faubert, economist with the MEI and author of the report. “As a result, we continue to use outdated methods and equipment, which is safer for administrators, but doesn’t help patients get the best care.”The report highlights the slow rollout of advanced medical tools, particularly robotic surgery systems made by Intuitive Surgical, which produces the widely used da Vinci Surgical System. In 2025, just 39 Canadian hospitals and clinics were equipped with these robotic systems. By contrast, more than 2,000 facilities in the United States use roughly 5,500 units, while Germany has also deployed hundreds, supporting hundreds of thousands of procedures..The MEI notes that in Canada, many of the existing systems were only acquired through philanthropic donations rather than standard hospital procurement. Critics argue that this reflects a system where innovation depends more on charity than structured investment.“If not for foundations and philanthropy, innovative medical equipment would be almost entirely absent from Canadian hospitals,” Faubert said. “Excessive centralization, funding by historical budgets, and the lack of competition between hospitals essentially kills the incentive to innovate.”The gap is even more pronounced in cancer care technologies such as proton beam therapy, an advanced form of radiation treatment not available anywhere in Canada. Canada remains the only G7 country without a proton beam therapy centre, while the United States operates about 40 facilities and Germany has several.As a result, provinces have been forced to spend heavily to send patients abroad for treatment. In Ontario alone, 143 patients were approved for out-of-country care between 2018 and 2024, at an average cost of more than $80,000 per patient..“Canada is paying to send its patients abroad, while our health bureaucracies are slow to open their own centres,” Faubert said. “In the battle between health bureaucracies and project developers, it is patients who suffer.”The report also points to a cancelled proposal for a Montreal-based proton therapy centre, which would have been integrated into Quebec’s public health insurance system, as an example of stalled private-sector innovation facing government resistance.The MEI argues that greater involvement of independent clinics, diagnostic centres, and private providers could help speed up adoption of new technologies without undermining universal coverage. It says many universal health systems abroad already combine public funding with more flexible delivery models to accelerate access.“Ultimately, when you need a treatment, the clinic’s ownership type is the least of your worries, far behind treatment accessibility,” Faubert said. “By allowing independent clinics to lend a hand, access to care is improved for all.”The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary.
