As a whole, Canadians are currently waiting for at least 3.6 million medical appointments or scans.

A recent SecondStreet report on medical wait times highlights that health care waitlist volumes have only grown in recent years.

According to the data, obtained though FOI requests and government websites, indicates that the Northwest Territories and Saskatchewan have some of the worst rates for surgery wait times, at 2.86 and 2.41 per cent of the population on a waitlist, respectively.

When it comes to diagnostic scans, Newfoundland wins gold for patience, as 9.95 per cent of its population is currently waiting for one.

SecondStreet dot org says due to incomplete and missing data, these numbers may actually be much higher. For example, Manitoba and Newfoundland were only able to provide partial surgical data, Quebec’s diagnostic scan data is incomplete, and seven provinces don’t track details about appointments with specialists.

The organization’s Research Director, Bacchus Barua, says “It’s disappointing…but nevertheless, the available data clearly show millions of Canadians languishing on waitlists for healthcare.”

SecondStreet’s solution, presented by President Colin Craig, is a universal healthcare system such as those used in Europe.