The Fraser Institute says long waits for surgery and medical treatment cost Canadians $1.9 billion in lost wages last year. The public policy think-tank says, for the first time, the estimated number of Canadians who wanted for medically necessary treatment exceeded one million in 2017. The average value of work time lost was $1,822. In Saskatchewan the value is $1,603, putting us on the low side. In fact, six provinces had higher losses than ours. The Institute says, their estimate is likely conservative because it doesn’t account of the additional 10.2 week wait to see a specialist after receiving a referral from a GP.