Half of Canadians have avoided seeking medical attention because of long wait times, while an overwhelming majority believe the country's healthcare system needs major changes, according to a new national poll.The survey, released Thursday by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), SecondStreet.org and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, found 50% of Canadians have avoided visiting a doctor or hospital because of delays in accessing care.The findings also show 84% of Canadians believe the healthcare system needs reform, while just one in 10 think the existing system requires only additional government funding.Women were more likely to report avoiding medical care, with 59% saying they had done so.Among Canadians younger than 55, the figure was 55%, while 56% of Quebec residents reported avoiding medical attention because of wait times.“When people avoid seeking medical attention for a health issue, it doesn’t just magically go away,” said SecondStreet.org president Colin Craig.“The fact that so many patients avoid seeking help clearly shows that our government-run healthcare monopoly is no longer able to guarantee access to care.”The poll also found considerable support for allowing Canadians to purchase private healthcare services while maintaining access to the public system.Nationally, 61% of respondents said patients should be permitted to pay out of pocket or use extended health insurance to obtain private medical treatment, provided the public system remains available.Support was strongest in Quebec, where 68% backed allowing public and private healthcare services to operate alongside each other.Only 25% of Canadians opposed the arrangement.Christine Van Geyn, interim executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, said the findings suggest Canadians are increasingly willing to consider alternatives to the existing healthcare system.“These results show that Canadians are much more open to health reform than the public discourse would lead you to imagine,” said Van Geyn.“Understandably, Canadians recognize that the private sector can meet patients’ urgent needs when the public sector offers them nothing but endless wait lists.”The survey also examined how many Canadians have already turned to private healthcare providers.More than one-quarter of respondents, or 27%, reported having used private medical services.In Quebec, that number climbed to 46%, meaning nearly half of residents surveyed had accessed private care..Renaud Brossard, vice-president of communications at the MEI, said the results demonstrate that Canadians are increasingly focused on obtaining timely medical treatment.“These numbers show that Canadians prioritize access to care over an ideological vision of a government-run monopoly,” said Brossard.“When more than one person in four across the country—and almost one in two in Quebec—uses private care, this shows that it’s both accessible and normalized.”The findings come amid continuing concerns about healthcare wait lists and access to medical services across Canada.The organizations behind the survey argue that allowing greater private-sector participation could give patients more treatment options when they face lengthy delays in the public system.The poll did not establish whether expanding private healthcare would reduce public-system wait times.The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1,510 Canadians aged 18 and older.The reported margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.The MEI, SecondStreet.org and the Canadian Constitution Foundation are also hosting a healthcare reform conference in Toronto on November 5 and 6, where alternatives to Canada's existing healthcare delivery model will be discussed.
