Long Wait Times are Strangling Canada’s Health Care System
It shouldn’t take a pandemic
to make health care a priority.
Before COVID-19, Canadians were already waiting far too long for care. Now, amid a global pandemic, our already over-burdened health care system is grappling with even longer wait times and a backlog of surgical procedures, and too many Canadians lack access to the primary care they need and deserve.
To address not only these wait times and backlogs but also the ongoing shortages of family physicians, nurse practitioners and medical specialists, we need the federal government to create a one-time Health Care and Innovation Fund to alleviate the pressure on our system and prioritize access to primary care. While the federal government responded quickly to the pandemic, providing emergency funding to provinces and territories to minimize and alleviate the economic and health impacts of COVID-19, we need their support again. The pandemic has exacerbated our system’s chronic issues — without additional funding, we risk undoing so much of the good work that’s already been done.
If you believe every Canadian should have timely access to the primary care they need, when and where they need it, send a letter to your MP today!
Key Stats
Over 15% of Canadians aged 12 and over do not have a regular health care provider. (Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey 2018)
Clearing the backlog of procedures caused by COVID-19 will require more than $1.3B in additional funding (Deloitte, 2020).
What can our federal government do?
• Create a one-time Health Care and Innovation Fund with an investment of $2B to resume health care services, address the backlog of surgical procedures created by COVID-19, bolster public health capacity and establish a viable primary care model.
What can you do?
• Send a letter to your Member of Parliament to let them know access to health care matters to you. Use our letter writing tool below to easily email your MP today!
Help improve access to care for all Canadians. Email your local representatives today!
If wide-ranging access to health care is important to you, send a letter to your provincial/territorial government and your Member of Parliament advocating for the Health Care and Innovation Fund OR click on the second tab to use our letter writing tool to share — in your own words — your experience accessing health care during the pandemic. Your story is your most powerful advocacy tool; we encourage you to use it!
Learn more about access to care
