The Fraser Institute says, overall, wait times for medically necessary treatments have increased since last year in Canada. Specialist physicians surveyed, report a median wait time of 22.6 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment.

That’s an increase from 20.9 weeks in 2019. This year’s wait time is the longest wait time recorded in this survey’s history and is 143% longer than in 1993, when it was just 9.3 weeks.

Ontario reports the shortest total wait-17.4 weeks-while Prince Edward Island reports the longest-46.5 weeks. In Saskatchewan, the wait time is 21.7 weeks. Only Ontario and Quebec’s 18.8 are shorter. In 1993, the wait time in our province as about 10 weeks.

The Institute says, research has repeatedly indicated that wait times for medically necessary treatment are not benign inconveniences. it says that wait times can, and do, have serious consequences such as increased pain, suffering, and mental anguish. In certain instances, they can also result in poorer medical outcomes-transforming potentially reversible illnesses or injuries into chronic, irreversible conditions, or even permanent disabilities. In many instances, patients may also have to forgo their wages while they wait for treatment, resulting in an economic cost to the individuals themselves and the economy in general.