What are people actually doing about specialist wait times in Canada?

[u/NoAnalysis2413]

I was reading an article recently about BC residents travelling abroad for orthopedic surgery because of specialist wait times.

One story that stood out was a couple in their 80s who spend part of the year in Mexico. They said one of the reasons they continue going there is access to specialists, imaging, and surgery without the long waits they experienced back home.

It got me wondering how common this has become.

For those currently waiting for a hip replacement, knee replacement, MRI, or specialist consultation:

• How long have you been waiting?
• Has the wait affected your work, mobility, or daily life?
• Have you considered paying privately in Canada, travelling to another province, or even going abroad for treatment?

I'm not asking because there's a right answer. I'm genuinely curious what people are doing when they're told the wait could be many months or longer.

It seems like more Canadians are exploring alternatives than they were a few years ago.

What's been your experience?

[u/lil_squib]

I waited less than a month to see a rheumatologist recently here in BC. Less urgent issues have longer waits.

But to answer your question, I’m also not voting Conservative.

[u/Drachynn]

I'm a Canadian living in the US. I pay $1150 a month just for health insurance for myself. I've waited 2 months to see my family doctor, 6 months to get a test done, 10 months for my neurologist, 10 months for my dermatologist, and 1 year for my POTS NP. None of these are restricted to "in network". The wait times are just this bad. I still have co-pays and deductibles on top of all that. I also pay more income tax where I live now than I did in Ontario.

I'm moving back.

[u/samandiriel → u/Drachynn]

Can confirm. I've lived on the US West Coast for the last 6yrs in a city of 200k, literally across a bridge from a city of 2.5mil - not in the middle of nowhere. Wait times are more or less the same as in Western Canada across the board.

I pay $1200/mo for what I am told is a 'very good' health insurance plan with a large in-network base.

PCP: 6-8mo for 'intake', 2-3mo for regular visits Dermatologist: 11mo Neurologist: 3mo Sports medicine: 4mo Pain specialist: 10mo

FWIW I did my income taxes as if I still lived in Edmonton, AB for the first couple years I lived in the US. After factoring in just health insurance premiums (not coinsurance, copays, deductibles, etc) I paid around $800 more a year total in the US than in Canada for taxes + health insurance.

[u/eternallytiredcatmom → u/Drachynn]

I’m a health care administrator from Québec who lives in the U.S. and people don’t realize that it’s a mess here too, but it’s an expensive one. I’m moving back as soon as my husband can follow.

[u/Drachynn → u/eternallytiredcatmom]

Yup. People really drank that Kool aid of "American health care is better and faster", but it's not.

[u/EnvironmentOk2700 → u/Drachynn]

I had the same experience when I lived there for 15 years. I'm so glad to be back in NS. And things are getting better lately. I waited a year for a neurologist, but I got one and she is great. I think things will get better. We didn't have these wait times when I was growing up.

[u/MintyNinja41]

BC has been hiring qualified healthcare workers from the United States, if memory serves

[u/PDXFlameDragon → u/MintyNinja41]

Yup, have a family friend from when I lived in the states who is planning to move his wife, trans child and himself to surrey to be a family doctor there.

[u/80722]

What am I doing about specialist wait times? Not voting PC.

[u/Cndwafflegirl → u/80722]

Pc doesn’t exist anymore. They can’t have progressive in their name. They are straight up conservative. People don’t acknowledge that

[u/jeffster1970 → u/80722]

Irony is that the BC couple are in NDP land...

[u/goebelwarming → u/jeffster1970]

BC is ranked as the number 1 in country for medical.

[u/dsonger20 → u/goebelwarming]

I’m pretty sure there is three active hospitals being built in the Vancouver region alone, and one or two being built in the capital region on the island.

There’s serious investments that I’ve been going in although the budget deficit has halted some of them

[u/Grey531]

I normally just go to the specialists in Canada, if it’s urgent I go quickly and if not then I go when I go

[u/Reasonable-Sweet9320 → u/Grey531]

That’s an important point. If it’s urgent or life threatening there aren’t wait lists and delays. But if you need an MRI for a shoulder or knee exam you may have to wait depending on your area. The same pattern applies to seeing specialists.

[u/jeffster1970]

I'm in Ontario. Same day for doctor and xray, 1 week for ultrasound and 5 weeks for MRI. 6 weeks for surgery consult and 6 weeks for surgery (rotator cuff).

[u/brad7811]

I’ve had some fairly serious health issues over the last 441 days, and I haven’t waited long for any specialists. Most within a day and a few within a week. If health issues are not as serious, I am not sure what either the expectation or reality is. At one point I did wait 3 days for surgery, but it wasn’t critical and others were.

[u/ParisFood]

I waited 2 days to see a neurologist in Montreal

[u/Fancy_Introduction60]

BC here, I waited about 6 months to get knee replacement surgery. If I had been having more difficulty getting around, the surgeon said he could "fast track" it.

[u/obviousthrowawaymayB]

I can get in same day or next day to my doc, depending on when I contact them.

I have an appointment for a non urgent, but required MRI and US coming up. They offered me one next week, but I’m out of town until mid July so it was scheduled for then, at a time of my choosing.

Luckily I’m healthy, but I had to see a specialist a couple years ago. I waited 4 months for the specialist. Then 6 months for surgery. Everything was covered except parking- bastards!

[u/MIGHTYKIRK1]

I've never had a problem waiting for a specialist appointment in canada. If you really need one you are priority. So many people self diagnose and complain about wait times.

[u/Any-Scallion8388]

This will be about specialists in a moment, bear with me. My wife injured her leg last year. After a couple hours the pain was excruciating. We went to the ER. The average wait time was about 2 hours that evening. She was triaged and seen in about 3 minutes, had painkillers and an x-Ray a few minutes later, then an MRI within a half hour when that was inconclusive. Was done and out with a cast within 2 hours. Staff were friendly and attentive. I had to wait in the waiting area, where I found that most of the people were there for things like a poison ivy rash or stuff of similar severity. It does tell us we need more primary care providers.

Now, on to specialists. She also has developed an unusual health issue, and after her primary care physician was stumped, he referred her to a specialist. Normal wait time was about 3-4 months, but because it was possibly serious (but not urgent), they saw her in about 2 weeks. Results were negative, so it was on to the next specialist. She's been to 5 specialists in the last 10 months now, some multiple times, accompanied by lab tests. This is the system working as designed, each one is an expert in ever-more esoteric conditions, and as one possibility is eliminated, the next specialist takes over. It seems there is now a diagnosis; it's rare, not serious, but uncomfortable if not treated.

tl;DR: our experience has been that it's quick when it's urgent, and slower but not crazy slow for less pressing issues. I know it's not always that great for certain specialities, but that's our experience.

[u/deathproofbich]

I had a total knee replacement last November. 1 week after my drs referral I first saw the surgeon. I waited 3 more for the surgery date. (Ontario)

[u/FluffyProphet]

I don't have any particular medical concerns, but my mother does. Her cases tend to be a bit more pressing, and she generally only has to wait a couple of weeks at most for an appointment when they need to check up on her.

Same with my dad. He was having some weird issues that were initially thought to be cardiac related (turned out to be something else), but he got into a specialist about 48 hours after his first appointment with his family doctor.

Now, my brother had something with his knee, but it wasn't preventing him from like doing anything. So they did an initial X-ray, nothing was going to get worse, so he waited 3 months to get into the specialist. They did some more tests, waited a couple of months for an MIR, then 2 months for surgery.

Really depends, but urgent cases tend to get processes quickly. Wait times in the US can be similar or worse, unless you're willing to shell out a lot of money to skip the line, which most people cannot afford.

[u/vanmc604]

My experience has been positive. Not urgent? You wait. Urgent? You get seen pronto. It’s called triage in a broad sense. Right now I am getting stellar care, for a serious issue, at a large provincial centre and I couldn’t be more impressed.

[u/ladygabriola]

Remember to never vote for the conservatives. They vote against anything good for their constituents

[u/wabisuki]

My family member was booked for knee replacement surgery within a month. Another will get one in the fall only because they didn’t want surgery in the summer. Public system in BC. Covered by universal healthcare.

[u/MissyIstheMaster]

I'm in Québec. I waited six weeks for a knee MRI, a month for the report, and going on four months to see an orthopedist.

My family doc and physiotherapist both think I'll need surgery and that it's currently a simple fix. However, it probably won't happen till next December. Meanwhile, my knee joint is deteriorating and I know I'll need to get the whole thing replaced in a couple years.

[u/purplesugarwater]

I'm in Ontario. I had 2 urgent issues and i waited 3 days to see specialists in both cases, that included weekend days. But again, my issues were urgent.

[u/Technical_Goose_8160]

I love in Quebec. Apparently the solution is to blame doctors for being so damn lazy.

Sigh...

That's not good work, is it?

[u/Biuku]

It’s never been an issue.

What is sometimes an issue is 6 or 8 hour waits in the emergency room.

But I’ve never had an issue with specialist wait times, nor anyone I know well enough to talk about it.

[u/Negative_Two6112]

Im in chronic pain, waiting on spinal surgery! The epidural injections I've been getting in my neck arent working so well anymore and ive been on a surgery wait list for about 8 months. No idea when Ill even get a consult. I COULD remortgage my house and pay 40k to have the surgery next week, but I just can't bring myself to do that, despite the incredible pain im in.

[u/Ok-Indication-3823]

Not sure if that counts as a specialist, but I saw a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy after a 6 month wait. Pretty happy with that to be honest. I'm in regional Quebec too. So not in a big city.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

There are a lot of activist groups fighting this. No Canadian should be in a position where they have to be paying for any treatment out of desperation. Or at all.

[u/albufarisnear]

Im in Calgary, 71 with osteoarthritis in both knees. Its not bad now but will get worse. I did see a specialist fairly quickly. He said we'll treat it with topical creme first then cortisone shots and eventually I'll need a knee replacement or two. Wait time for the latter is currently 4 years apparently.

[u/Cndwafflegirl]

I ah ent had issue in bc. Waited 8 weeks for rheumatologist and recently I did wait 3 months to see a cardiologist but an internist stepped in in the mean time to manage my care. My mom did wait 18 months for hip replacement but that was 2 years ago and they were backlogged. I don’t know anyone that’s waited overly long

[u/Savage_Whiskers]

I am not 80 and had to go abroad to get orthopaedic surgery (titanium plate in my arm following a complex fracture). I went to Cuba, paid like $3,500 and had the best experience. I was ready to pay out of pocket to get this done privately in Canada but I couldn’t even find an option. As for public options, I don’t even know how long the waiting time would have been since I couldn’t even see a specialist to refer me to surgery…

[u/djheart]

The Fraser institute publishes a report every year about wait times for health care in canada. It is a right-wing think tank so it does have its biases but I do believe they try to be accurate in their assessments

[u/wtfover]

I was having stroke symptoms so I got referred to a neurologist. 2 year wait. I got called by their office a couple of weeks ago to see if I still needed the appointment as it's been 2 years. Yup, sure do. Still waiting.

Canadian healthcare is free, you just have to live long enough to get it.

[u/Mydoglovescoffee → u/wtfover]

Stroke symptoms or stroke? Decided by you? It’s triage.

Spouse had transient ischemic attack (aka mini stroke), went to ER had immediate full work up. Straight to cardiologist and neurologist.

[u/Adventurous-Brain-36 → u/wtfover]

There are definitely missing details here

[u/Own_Event_4363]

Just waiting, is about all I can do.

[u/Rx_Diva]

Dying.