By Bacchus Barua
and Mackenzie Moir
The Fraser Institute
As we continue our battle against COVID-19, another separate health-care crisis rages on. Wait times. Patients in Canada face the longest wait time for elective surgery on record – 22.6 weeks (between referral from a family doctor to receipt of medically necessary treatment).
Of course, the pandemic and the pre-emptive cancellations of procedures have influenced this historic median wait time. However, it’s also the result of decades of policy inertia and disregard for international data.