Data shows 6 provinces see increase in average wait times at walk-in clinics in 2022

On average, Canadians across six provinces experienced a 37-minute wait time for walk-in clinics in 2022, new data from Medimap shows.

Medimap, a Canadian company that matches patients with walk-in clinics, reports that in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia, the average wait to see a physician increased 12 minutes from the year prior.

The Medimap Walk-in Wait Time Index gathers data from medical clinics, pharmacists, and health professionals allowing the wait times to be published online. According to the company about 70 per cent of the walk-in clinics across Canada use Medimap.

The company does not operate in Quebec, New Brunswick, P.E.I, Newfoundland and Labrador or any of the territories. The report only included cities from six provinces that had 10 or more clinics using Medimap's software.

Medimap's CEO, Thomas Jankowski told CTVNews.ca in an email to "maintain a reliable sample size" the company analyzed data from six provinces that were available.

"The drastic increase in average wait times at walk-in clinics provides further evidence that healthcare systems across the country are struggling to provide adequate care," Jankowski said in a press release dated Feb. 6.

In the past year, the Canadian health-care system has been under immense pressure with practitioner burnout at an all-time high, staffing shortages and a multi-demic of RSV, COVID-19 and influenza.

Many hospital emergency rooms across the country have been operating at or above capacity, prompting many to seek health care elsewhere. Some have died waiting.

According to Medimap, Nova Scotia clinics had the longest average wait times in the country last year, with patients waiting an average of 83 minutes to see a physician. That represents a 39-minute longer wait than in 2021.

Dartmouth, N.S., clinics had the highest average wait time in the province with 117 minutes. Halifax clinics had the lowest in the province, with patients waiting an average of 55 minutes to see a physician.

"While there is no single solution to fix this problem, our mission at Medimap is to work with health-care providers, including walk-in clinics, pharmacies, hospitals and allied health-care professionals to help Canadians find the care they need when they need it," Jankowski said in a press release.

British Columbia's walk-in patients faced a 79-minute average wait in 2022, compared to a 58-minute wait in 2021.

Four of the top 10 cities with the longest wait times included in Medimap's data in 2022 were located in B.C., with clinics in North Vancouver reporting 160-minute average wait times. The shortest wait time in the province was an average of 31 minutes at clinics in Richmond, B.C.

Saskatchewan clinics had an average of 51-minute wait times in 2022, up 20 minutes from 2021.

Clinics in Regina saw average wait times of 39 minutes. The longest wait times in the province on average were in Moose Jaw, with patients waiting about 78 minutes for care.

Average wait times in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario were under the overall average, according to Medimap's data.

Alberta walk-in clinics had an average wait time of 34 minutes in 2022, a 16-minute increase from 2021. The shortest wait time average in the province was 28 minutes for Calgary clinics. The longest Alberta wait times were at clinics in Red Deer, where patients waited 71 minutes on average.

Walk-in clinics in Manitoba saw patients wait an average of 31 minutes in 2022, up 11 minutes from 2021. Clinics in Winnipeg had the shortest wait time average across the province, at 31 minutes in 2022. The longest wait in Manitoba was at clinics in Morden with an average of 93 minutes.

Ontario had the lowest wait-time average at 25 minutes, a 10-minute increase from 2021. Clinics in Brampton had the lowest wait-time average in the province, at 10 minutes, and clinics in London saw the highest average, at 80 minutes.