A recent report by SecondStreet.
org, a public policy group, has revealed a troubling statistic: between April 2024 and March 2025, at least 23,746 patients in Canada died while waiting for surgeries or diagnostic procedures.
This represents a three percent increase from the previous year, bringing the total number of wait-list deaths since 2018 to over 100,000, as reported by CTV News. The data, gathered through freedom-of-information requests to more than 40 provincial and territorial health agencies, suggests that the actual number may be even higher due to incomplete data from several jurisdictions, including Alberta and parts of Manitoba.
According to The Post Millennial, Ontario reported the highest number of deaths, with 10,634 cases, including over 9,100 patients who passed away before receiving or being scheduled for surgery. Quebec and British Columbia followed with 6,290 and 4,620 deaths, respectively.
Other provinces reported smaller numbers, ranging from 121 in New Brunswick to 727 in Nova Scotia. Manitoba's incomplete data listed 215 deaths. Colin Craig, president of SecondStreet.org, emphasized the lack of transparency, stating, No government reports publicly on patients dying on waiting lists.
The report underscores the human cost of these delays, highlighting cases like that of Debbie Fewster from Manitoba. Advised in July 2024 that she needed heart surgery within three weeks, she tragically died on Thanksgiving Day after waiting over two months. Similar stories have emerged from Ontario and Alberta, illustrating the dire consequences of prolonged wait times.
Many of the deceased were awaiting procedures intended to enhance quality of life, such as hip and knee replacements, cataract surgeries, and MRIs. Alarmingly, a significant number involved potentially life-saving interventions, including cardiac care and cancer treatments. In Ontario alone, 355 deaths were recorded among patients waiting for heart procedures, with at least 90 exceeding recommended wait times.
Despite unprecedented health spending of $244 billion from 2024 to 2025, with per-capita funding nearly tripling since the mid-1990s, the report argues that the performance of Canada's healthcare system remains inadequate. It points to research indicating that Canada continues to lag behind comparable universal healthcare systems in terms of the number of doctors, hospital beds, and MRI machines per capita.
This raises questions about the effectiveness of current healthcare policies and the need for reform to prevent further loss of life.
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