Nearly five million surgical procedures, diagnostic scans and specialist appointments may be backlogged across Canada, with health care waitlists showing little improvement since 2022, according to a new report from think tank SecondStreet.org.The Calgary-based organization released an analysis Wednesday showing at least 3.6 million appointments are on waitlists nationwide. However, researchers estimate the actual backlog could be closer to 4.9 million, equivalent to roughly one in eight Canadians.The findings suggest Canada's health care system continues to struggle with lengthy waitlists four years after the pandemic-era backlog was recorded.SecondStreet.org gathered the information primarily through freedom of information requests submitted to provincial governments, supplemented by publicly available government data.Researchers found that when comparing figures available in late 2022 with those collected this year, the overall volume of patients waiting for care has remained largely unchanged.“A lot of patients are still stuck on waitlists even though the pandemic backlog is four years old,” said SecondStreet.org President Colin Craig.“One solution would be to start copying universal systems like the ones in Sweden, Denmark and France where they don’t have these chronic waitlist problems. We’ve observed these systems firsthand, and they’re impressive.”.According to the report, 628,919 surgical appointments are backlogged across Canada, along with 1,361,126 specialist appointments and 1,635,519 diagnostic scans.The combined total stands at 3,625,564 appointments, although researchers caution the figures underestimate the actual backlog because several provinces do not collect or disclose complete information.Alberta has 81,829 patients waiting for surgery, 268,607 specialist appointments on waitlists and another 200,157 diagnostic scans pending.The figures indicate 1.60% of Alberta's population is waiting for surgery, while 3.92% is waiting for diagnostic imaging.In British Columbia, the report identified 96,238 surgical appointments, 132,425 specialist appointments and 236,162 diagnostic scans on waitlists.Ontario recorded the largest diagnostic imaging backlog, with 722,338 appointments pending, along with 227,500 surgical appointments. Specialist waitlist figures were unavailable.Quebec reported 128,220 surgical appointments and 888,248 specialist appointments, the highest specialist backlog among provinces providing data.The province also reported 100,297 diagnostic scans awaiting completion, although researchers said the figure was incomplete because it included only CT scans.In Saskatchewan, 30,786 surgical appointments and 19,359 diagnostic scans were backlogged. The province did not provide specialist waitlist figures.Manitoba reported 10,505 surgical appointments and 90,045 diagnostic scans, although its surgical data was incomplete.The report also identified significant diagnostic imaging backlogs in Atlantic Canada.New Brunswick recorded 110,413 pending diagnostic scans, representing 12.50% of its population, the highest reported proportion in the country.Newfoundland and Labrador had 54,994 diagnostic scans pending, equivalent to 9.95% of its population, while Nova Scotia reported 99,234 scans, representing 8.99%.Nova Scotia also recorded 16,152 surgical appointments and 55,707 specialist appointments on waitlists.Figures were unavailable for Prince Edward Island and Yukon.The Northwest Territories reported 1,311 surgical appointments, 14,736 specialist appointments and 2,520 diagnostic scans awaiting completion.Nunavut recorded 129 surgical appointments and 1,403 specialist appointments, with no diagnostic scan backlog reported..SecondStreet.org Research Director Bacchus Barua criticized the lack of comprehensive reporting, saying seven of Canada's 10 provinces do not track complete waitlist figures across all three categories.“It’s disappointing that seven of ten Canadian provinces don’t track the total number of patients waiting for surgical appointments, diagnostic scans and appointments with specialists,” said Barua.“Nevertheless, the available data clearly show millions of Canadians languishing on wait lists for health care. Patients deserve better transparency and meaningful solutions.”The organization says incomplete government reporting makes it difficult to determine the full extent of Canada's health care backlog or accurately measure whether efforts to reduce wait times are succeeding.The report's totals represent appointments rather than necessarily unique patients, meaning individuals waiting for more than one service could be counted multiple times.
