The Fraser Institute's twentieth annual waiting list survey finds that province-wide wait times for surgical and other therapeutic treatments have increased in 2010. The total waiting time between referral from a general practitioner and delivery of elective treatment by a specialist, averaged...

Canada's Medicare Bubble examines whether the public costs associated with Canada's health system are economically sustainable. Total provincial health spending has grown at an average annual rate of 7.5% over the last ten years, compared to only 5.7% for total available provincial revenue...

Key findings:•On average, Canadians wait over two years for access to new drugs because of federal delays in approving them and provincial delays in authorizing reimbursement.•Health Canada took longer to approve new medicines than the European Medicines Agency in all five years studied —...

"Healthcare systems in North America are sometimes criticised as being expensive or socially irresponsible relative to comparable systems in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries or regions. These perceived health system failures are often mistakenly attributed...

This edition of Waiting Your Turn indicates that waiting times for elective medical treatment have increased since last year. Specialist physicians surveyed across 12 specialties and 10 Canadian provinces report a total waiting time of 19.0 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and...

Provincial health spending has grown faster on average than GDP for the last 37 years. Trends show that health spending will consume 50% of total available revenues (including federal transfers) in 6 of 10 provinces by 2017, up from roughly 25% in 1974. Some researchers blame unsustainable...

Federal and provincial government policies create unnecessary delays for patients wanting access to new drug treatments. The federal government does not allow patients to use new drugs until Health Canada has reviewed each product’s safety and effectiveness information. The latest data show...

Available evidence indicates that patients who have private sector drug insurance are immediately covered for all new medically necessary drugs certified by Health Canada, with few exceptions. The experience for patients who are dependent on public drug programmes is much worse. Evidence...