Wait Times & Access

23,746 Canadians died on medical wait lists in 2024-25, up 3% -- and it explains the outbound-patient exodus

SecondStreet.org's November 2025 policy brief, built from provincial Freedom-of-Information requests, found at least 23,746 patients died while on a wait list for surgery or a diagnostic scan in Canada's 2024-25 fiscal year, a 3% year-over-year increase and part of a cumulative 100,876 since 2018 -- while Alberta and part of Manitoba still refuse to disclose the data at all.