This report was written for the Canadian Institute for Health Information. Published on June 12, 2025. To view the original report, click here.
Across Canada, wait times for surgery and diagnostic imaging continue to be a priority for health systems and patients.
Health systems are managing multiple challenges, including an aging and growing population, rising demand for procedures, and health workforce shortages.
Understanding wait time patterns helps inform health system planning and supports strategies to improve timely access for Canadians.
Explore our snapshot, interactive tool and data tables to learn more about the latest trends in wait times. Data is available at the national, provincial and health region levels.
Key findings
- More scheduled procedures are being performed to meet growing demand. In 2024, there were 26% more hip replacements, 21% more knee replacements, 11% more cataract surgeries, 7% more cancer surgeries and 16% more MRI and CT scans completed across Canada than in 2019.
- Some patients are waiting longer than the recommended time frame for their procedures. In 2024, compared with previous years, more patients across Canada received hip (68%) and knee (61%) replacements within the recommended 6 months and cataract surgeries (69%) within the recommended 112 days. However, for hip and knee replacements, these percentages remain below 2019 (pre–COVID-19 pandemic) levels.
- In 2024, the proportions of patients receiving radiation therapy within 28 days and hip fracture repair within 48 hours were 94% and 83%, respectively — a drop of 3 percentage points each when compared with 2019.
- Median wait times for most cancer surgeries increased by 1 to 5 days between 2019 and 2024. Prostate cancer surgery had the largest wait time increase (9 days).
- Patients waited longer for diagnostic imaging in 2024 than in 2019. Median wait times rose by 15 days for MRI scans and by 3 days for CT scans during this period.
