Further complicating the delivery of healthcare services is a domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing industry that is unable to rapidly secure vaccines and therapeutics to protect and safeguard Canadians and the economy from current and future outbreaks and pandemics.

If Canada is to truly have an accessible universal healthcare system for all Canadians these issues will need to be addressed quickly. It is a known fact that Canada has fewer doctors per capita than almost every other wealthy nation. This doctor shortage will worsen in the coming years as Canadian medical schools continue to not graduate enough medical doctors to meet the needs of Canada’s rapidly growing and aging population. Some projections note that within less than two decades, 50 million people will call Canada home, up from 38 million today. A doctor shortage threatens Canada’s national security, its economy and the quality of life and freedoms of all Canadians. Consider the following:

• In 2019, 14.5% of Canadians aged 12 and older (approximately 4.6 million Canadians) reported that they did not have a regular healthcare provider to see or talk to when they needed care or advice for their health.
• In a study that compared 28 universal healthcare systems in high income countries Canada ranked 26th out of 28 in the number of doctors available with only 2.8 doctors per thousand people, far behind countries like Austria at 5.2 doctors per thousand people.
• 18% of the Canadian population reside in rural areas while fewer than 10% of Canada’s doctors practice in rural communities.
• Many of the doctors currently practicing in Canada will retire in the next 10 to 15 years. Approximately 40% are already 55 years of age or older.

It wasn’t always this way. In the early 1970s Canada’s doctor to population ratio was one of the highest in the world. That changed following the Barer-Stoddart report which made the suggestion of cutting down enrollment in medical schools and decreasing recruitment of International Medical Graduates to Canada. Today, Canada’s doctor shortage is principally attributed to: policy changes leading to a reduction in the enrolment at Canadian medical schools, restrictions on foreign doctor recruitment, emigration of Canadian doctors to the US and Canadians going abroad to study and practice medicine.

Another gaping hole in Canada’s Healthcare system is ICU capacity, or lack thereof. Canada has long lagged behind other rich nations in terms of hospital capacity. Canada currently has one of the lowest rates of acute care beds per 1,000 people within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which collects data on its 38 member countries. Canada’s aging population and concerns around the potential increase in severity of illness and disease will place additional demand for ICU bed capacity for Canadians. Consider the following:

• In 1980, the average number of hospital beds in Canada stood at 6.75 per thousand people. Today, this rate has decreased to 2.1 per thousand people.
• Canada is ranked second last for acute beds (25th out of 26 countries), with 2.1 beds per thousand people. Consider South Korea with 8.1 beds per thousand people, Japan with 5.8 per thousand people and Germany with 5.5 beds per thousand people.
• Canada’s ICU capacity is less than half of that of the US and just over a third of Germany’s.

In terms of timely access to care, Canada again performs poorly. Wait times lead to serious consequences such as increased pain, suffering and mental anguish. Extended wait time to access care can also result in poorer medical outcomes, transforming potentially reversible illnesses or injuries into chronic, irreversible conditions, permanent disabilities, or death. In many instances, patients may also have to forego their wages while they wait for treatment, resulting in significant costs to individuals, families and the economy. Consider the following:

• 30% of Canadian patients reported waiting two months or longer for an appointment with a specialist compared with only 3% in Germany, 4% in France and 7% in the Netherlands.
• 18% of patients in Canada reported waiting four months for longer for elective surgery compared to Switzerland at 7%.
• Only 43% of Canadians can get a same day or next day appointment when they’re sick – putting the country dead last in a study of 11 developed countries. One in five Canadians wait more than a week to see a doctor.
• The median wait time in Canada for 2021 was 25.6 weeks, up from 20.9 weeks wait time in 2019.
• Wait times are 175% longer than in 1993, when it was just 9.3 weeks.
• There are an estimated 1,425,517 Canadians waiting for surgical procedures.

These are just a few of the glaring shortcomings of Canada’s Healthcare system. I have not touched on the healthcare profession deficit in the critical care fields of: nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, medical doctor specialties (i.e. psychiatry, radiology…), or the timely access to diagnostic equipment such as MRIs, CAT scans, or the underfunded state of community healthcare.

Canada’s Healthcare system is not prepared to meet the current or future healthcare needs and demands of all Canadians. This reality not only affects the health outcomes for Canadians, it affects Canada’s sovereignty, national security, financial independence and the quality of life of all Canadians.

Clearly, Canada’s Healthcare system is in need of urgent attention.