It takes 30 weeks to get a referral from a doctor in Canada

A new report has revealed that it takes 30 weeks for a doctor to refer a patient to a specialist in Canada. 

The survey was conducted by the Fraser Institute, an organization known for its critical analysis of institutional practices. 

The annual report, which is noted as an independent examination, looked into the median wait time for a general practitioner or family doctor to refer a patient to a specialist in Canada. 

The pool of study used included procedures across 12 detailed medical practices —  which included several types of surgery.

The study found that, on a national level, the median wait for a specialist is 30 weeks — the longest recorded. 

However, despite this slow bureaucratic churn coast to coast, Ontario appears to be a little less impacted, as the province recorded the shortest wait time on a provincial scale, at roughly 26 weeks. 

This report runs parallel to another survey from earlier this year by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), which noted that as of 2024, an estimated 6.5 million Canadians don’t have access to a family doctor.

On top of the growing number of Canadians without medical care, the CMA also cited a growing number of doctors suffering from burnout and an insurmountable amount of patient paperwork. 

As for details on each province’s experience with doctor referrals over the last year, the Fraser Institute’s data is as follows:

“Long wait times can result in increased suffering for patients, lost productivity at work, a decreased quality of life, and in the worst cases, disability or death,” said Mackenzie Moir, senior policy analyst at the Fraser Institute and study co-author. 

For more information on the Fraser Institute’s analysis of referral wait times in 2024, visit the organization’s official website.