Canadians endure record 28.6-week wait for medical care in 2025
A new study has revealed that Canadians faced a median wait time of 28.6 weeks for medical treatment in 2025—the second-longest delay recorded. The financial toll of these delays reached an estimated $4.2 billion in lost wages and productivity. Behind the numbers, patients like Rayanne Boychuk continue to endure lengthy waits for critical care.
The Fraser Institute report highlighted that 1.4 million Canadians were waiting for necessary medical procedures last year. Alberta, in particular, bore the third-highest individual cost of waiting, driven by above-average incomes and longer-than-average delays. The study noted that even this figure may underestimate the true impact, as it did not include the 15.3-week wait to see a specialist or delays for diagnostic tests.
Rayanne Boychuk, an Edmonton-area resident, has been waiting over a year for specialist care due to Graves' disease and eosinophilic gastritis. Frustrated by the delay, she is now considering travelling out of province for treatment. Her situation underscores the broader human cost of prolonged wait times—a concern echoed by Boychuk, who hopes policymakers recognise the real-life consequences. In response, Alberta's Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Sciences, Matt Jones, acknowledged the problem. The province is taking steps to address it, including hiring more doctors and nurses, expanding anesthesia care teams, and launching a program to fast-track access to specialists.
The study's findings place the economic burden of wait times at $4.2 billion, though the true cost may be even higher. Alberta's government has committed to reducing delays through targeted investments and new initiatives. For patients like Boychuk, however, the changes cannot come soon enough.
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