[mrunkel]

> Never mind that the average wait time to see a doctor in Canada is almost 20 weeks...

This is just false.

The number you're referring to is from here: "Specialist physicians surveyed report a median waiting time of 19.8 weeks between referral from a general practitioner and receipt of treatment—shorter than the wait of 21.2 weeks reported in 2017. This year's wait time is 113% longer than in 1993, when it was just 9.3 weeks."

It's for receiving treatment from a specialist (surgery, etc.) not 'seeing a doctor'.

Somewhere around 40% of Canadians reported being able to see their primary care physician the same day. Very few reported a wait of longer than 7+ days.

Many parts of Canada are very remote. The average waiting time for someone in a major city is not as long as that.

[blaser-waffle]

There simply aren't medical facilities in a lot of remote / regional Canada. If you need a fairly complex or specialized surgery you're essentially going to a big city or regional hub.

Keep in mind that Canada may be huge, but has less people than California, and most of them are concentrated in a handful of places.

Anecdotal: my wife's wait for an orthopedic surgeon was 3 days... but was in a city 1.5 hours away.