Half of Canadians Face Family Doctor Crisis, New Poll Reveals Worsening Trend
A comprehensive new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has revealed a deepening crisis in Canada's primary healthcare system, with fully half of Canadian adults reporting they either lack a family physician entirely or struggle significantly to access the one they have.
Alarming Increase Over Past Decade
The findings represent a substantial 25 percent deterioration since 2015, when only 40 percent of respondents reported similar difficulties accessing primary care. The polling firm conducted an online survey among 4,000 Canadian adults from across the country in December, asking specifically about appointment accessibility with family doctors or general practitioners.
The breakdown of responses paints a concerning picture of healthcare accessibility nationwide. Thirty-one percent of respondents reported significant difficulty securing appointments, typically waiting a week or more to see their physician. Another 18 percent confirmed they have no family doctor at all. A further 35 percent indicated they usually face waits of several days, though they believed they could potentially access care sooner if absolutely necessary. Only 15 percent of Canadians reported easy access, stating they could typically see their doctor within one to two days.
Significant Regional Disparities Emerge
The survey uncovered substantial provincial variations in healthcare access challenges. Quebec recorded the highest percentage of residents without any family physician at 31 percent, while neighboring Ontario reported the lowest at just 12 percent. When combining both categories of no doctor or difficult access, Saskatchewan emerged as the worst-affected province with 63 percent of residents facing these challenges, closely followed by Quebec and Atlantic Canada at 60 percent each.
Notably, almost all provinces showed deterioration in access metrics between the 2015 survey and the current findings. The sole exception was Alberta, where the percentage of residents without a family doctor decreased slightly from 16 percent to 14 percent over the decade. Quebec showed some improvement in the difficulty of seeing existing doctors, dropping from 33 to 29 percent, but this was offset by an increase in residents with no physician at all during the same period.
Widespread Dissatisfaction with Healthcare Quality
The survey extended beyond access issues to examine broader perceptions of healthcare quality and government performance. A striking 70 percent of Canadians believe provincial healthcare quality has deteriorated over the past 10 to 15 years, with only 6 percent reporting improvement and 24 percent perceiving no change.
Similarly, 71 percent of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with their provincial government's performance on healthcare issues, while just 29 percent reported satisfaction. Provincial dissatisfaction rates ranged from 61 percent in Newfoundland to 76 percent in Quebec, where pollsters noted that recent legislative changes may have exacerbated criticism.
Policy Impacts and Professional Concerns
In Quebec specifically, the passage of Bill 2 has drawn significant attention and criticism from medical professionals. This legislation ties 10 percent of physicians' salaries to performance targets established by the provincial government, with financial penalties for non-compliance. The Canadian Medical Association has strongly criticized this approach, describing it as introducing Soviet-style monitoring and potentially driving physicians to seek practice opportunities in other provinces.
The comprehensive survey results highlight a growing disconnect between healthcare needs and system capacity across Canada, with access challenges extending beyond simple physician shortages to include systemic barriers and regional inequities that demand urgent policy attention and innovative solutions.
