Half of Canadians Dissatisfied With Provincial Health Care, Open to Private Care Options: Survey

Medical tools are seen in an exam room at a health clinic in Calgary on July 14, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jeff McIntosh

Half of Canadians are dissatisfied with their provincial health care system and the majority are in favour of relying more on private entities to provide better service, a new survey has found.

While 50 percent of Canadians said they are dissatisfied with their provincial health care systems, that figure grows substantially in the Atlantic provinces, where more than 67 percent are dissatisfied, according to an Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) and published on April 11.

Women tended to be less satisfied than men with their health care system at 55 percent and 44 percent respectively.

Fifty-two percent of Canadians said they would support greater access to private health care, while 29 percent were opposed and 19 percent were uncertain. The idea was particularly popular in Quebec, with 65 percent of respondents expressing support.

“People understand that the endless waiting lists that characterize our government-run health systems will not be solved by yet another bureaucratic reform,” MEI economist Emmanuelle B. Faubert said in a press release.

“They can see that elsewhere in the world, mixed systems that allow more room for independent care providers don’t have the wait times that we have.”

Looking to France and Sweden

Meanwhile, 65 percent of Canadians were in favour of emulating the French or Swedish health-care systems in Canada.

​​French and Swedish health care are largely tax-funded but also offer access to private care. In France, for instance, public health care covers most costs but private insurance provides more comprehensive care and quicker access to specialists.

Support for that model was highest in Quebec at 75 percent followed by Ontario at 64 percent and B.C. at 62 percent.

The level of support for such a model in Quebec could be because of the province’s independently run mini-hospitals project. The project is run independently of the government, but is accessible with the Quebec medicare card.

Currently, about 73 percent of Quebecers polled support the project, Ms. Faubert said.

“Quebecers’ support for the independent mini-hospitals project remains very strong,” she said. “People have high expectations for this project, and the final version of it must be in line with what was promised during the last election.”

Canadians looking for answers outside of the current system is not completely unexpected considering the rising wait times to see specialists, waitlists to find a family doctor and understaffed emergency rooms.

Recently released in-house research by the Department of Health found that shortcomings of Canada’s publicly funded health-care system are causing anxiety for many Canadians who fear “delays in tests or treatment.”

“While the actual care received rarely tended to be a source of concern or criticism, most participants wanted to raise their concerns and fears about access to services and delays in tests or treatments,” the report found.

The majority of those surveyed described medicare as adequate only after patients managed to make it through extensive queues, wait lists, and quotas.

A separate survey of nearly 10,000 people across the country released earlier this year found a shortage of family doctors and understaffed hospitals to be two of the biggest concerns Canadians have about the health-care system.

The resulting 72-page report from Toronto-based OurCare Initiative detailed patient frustration with inconsistent access to primary health care as well as long wait times for appointments.

The report revealed what it described as an “attachment crisis” with an estimated 22 percent of Canadian adults—6.5 million people—without a family doctor or nurse practitioner they can see consistently.