Blog

• 46 per cent of Quebecers have turned to the private sector to receive faster care.
• 84 per cent of Canadians believe the healthcare system needs change.

MONTREAL – Canadians have had enough of waiting for care. That’s the picture that emerges from a new poll jointly commissioned by the MEI, SecondStreet.org, and the Canadian Constitution Foundation.

According to the poll, 50 per cent of Canadians avoided visiting a hospital or doctor due to wait times. Women (59 per cent), Canadians under 55 years of age (55 per cent), and Quebecers (56 per cent) were most likely to say they had done so.

“When people avoid seeking medical attention for a health issue, it doesn’t just magically go away,” explains Colin Craig, president of SecondStreet.org. “The fact that so many patients avoid seeking help clearly shows that our government-run healthcare monopoly is no longer able to guarantee access to care.”

Canadians seem to realize this. Only one in 10 Canadians say the system does not need to change and just needs a bit more public funding. Conversely, 84 per cent ofrespondents say the system needs reform.

The poll notably finds substantial openness among Canadians for the coexistence of public and private healthcare systems.

A little over six in 10 Canadians (61 per cent) think that patients should be able to pay out of pocket or use extended health insurance to obtain private care, as long as the public system remains an option. Support for this is highest among Quebecers, at 68 per cent.

Only 25 per cent of Canadians are opposed to this coexistence between the public and private sectors.

“These results show that Canadians are much more open to health reform than the public discourse would lead you to imagine,” says Christine Van Geyn, interim executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation. “Understandably, Canadians recognize that the private sector can meet patients’ urgent needs when the public sector offers them nothing but endless wait lists.”

This support can also be seen from the increasing use of private care. According to the data, over one in four Canadians (27 per cent) have already used private care. In Quebec, almost half (46 per cent) say they’ve used it.

“These numbers show that Canadians prioritize access to care over an ideological vision of a government-run monopoly,” points out Renaud Brosard, vice president of communications at the MEI. “When more than one person in four across the country—and almost one in two in Quebec—uses private care, this shows that it’s both accessible and normalized.”

A representative sample of 1,510 Canadians aged 18 years and over were polled. The margin of error is ±2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

The MEI, SecondStreet.org, and the Canadian Constitution Foundation are hosting a conference on Canadian healthcare reform in Toronto on November 5 and 6. Tickets and details are available here: https://prescriptions-for-health-reform.com/

The results of the poll are available here: secondstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Leger-SecondStreet-National-Omnibus-Report-Oct-21-2026.pdf