New CIHI report paints a picture of the state of health care for priority topics across Canada

Press Release

October 24, 2024

The new Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) report Taking the pulse: Measuring shared priorities for Canadian health care, 2024 shows the current state of health care in 4 key areas:

  • Expanding family health services and improving access to primary health care
  • Increasing health workforce supply and reducing surgery wait times
  • Improving access to mental health and substance use services
  • Modernizing health care information systems and digital tools for secure sharing of electronic health information

The report comes out of commitments made in 2023, when federal, provincial and territorial governments agreed to work with CIHI to keep Canadians up to date on important health topics.

Working in collaboration with governments, Statistics Canada, Canada Health Infoway and Integrated Youth Services Networks, CIHI now has baseline results available to track improvements over time.

Some of the report’s findings for 2023–2024 include

  • 83% of Canadian adults report having access to a regular health care provider. But more than 5 million Canadian adults, or 17%, struggle to access care. 92% of older adults (age 65+) report having access compared with 74% of younger adults (age 18 to 34).
  • The number of surgeries completed in Canada has rebounded to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019–2020. More than 2.3 million surgeries were performed last year — an increase of 5% compared with the year before the pandemic. Surgeries for older adults (age 65+) have increased 14% above pre-pandemic levels. Surgeries for other age groups remain below pre-pandemic levels.
  • The median wait for community mental health counselling in Canada is 25 days. 1 in 10 people have waited almost 5 months or more for this type of counselling.
  • 4 in 5 Canadians, or 81%, are interested in accessing their health information online. But fewer than 40% have done so. 48% of older adults (age 65+) have accessed their health information online, while only 30% of younger adults (age 18 to 24) have done the same.

Access to primary care continues to be a challenge for Canadians

Jenna Kedy, a patient advocate managing multiple chronic illnesses, says navigating a complex health system on her own has been exhausting.

“Along with physical health challenges, I was dealing with mental health issues that were overwhelming,” says Ms. Kedy. “After my GP retired, I’ve struggled to find a new family doctor so I’ve had to manage my own health care as best I can.”

A common foundation for driving system improvement

The report looks at national and provincial/territorial results for 12 health system indicators. (The results do not currently include Quebec but will in the future.)

“This work sets a common foundation for keeping Canadians up to date on the changes they want to see in health care systems,” says Kathleen Morris, Vice President, Research and Analysis at CIHI. “It is encouraging to see that surgery volumes are rebounding, and improvements continue to happen in other areas, such as the increase of Integrated Youth Services (IYS) sites.”

Mrs. Morris also notes, “While Canada’s health care systems still face challenges, provinces and territories have action plans in place for ongoing improvement, and regular reporting will enable them to compare progress and learn from each other.”

CIHI will continue to work with partners to collect data and report on updated results, as well as develop new indicators to measure health care topics important to Canadians.

About CIHI

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing essential health information to all Canadians.

CIHI works closely with federal, provincial and territorial partners and stakeholders throughout Canada to gather, package and disseminate information to inform policy, management, care and research, leading to better and more equitable health outcomes for all Canadians.

Health information has become one of society’s most valuable public goods. For more than 30 years, CIHI has set the pace on data privacy, security, accessibility and innovation to improve Canada’s health systems.

CIHI: Better data. Better decisions. Healthier Canadians.

Media contacts

For English and French inquiries:

Alya Niang

IHT5

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