As governments work to improve Canadians’ access to a family doctor, a new report shows the ability to access primary care varies depending on the province or territory.

The report, based on the Canadian Medical Association’s Our Care survey, shows about 5.8 million adults remain without primary care access. But when narrowing down, fewer Canadians in New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and two territories have access compared to others such as Ontario, British Columbia or Manitoba.

“I think the report findings really illustrate how we don’t have one national health-care system, instead we have 13 or more primary care systems,” said Dr. Tara Kiran, who worked with the CMA on the survey.

The survey gathered responses from 16,876 Canadian adults from across the country. They were asked if they had a regular family doctor or nurse practitioner, or a primary care setting to receive care.

New Brunswick ranked among the lowest, with 65.9 per cent of respondents reporting they had a primary care clinician — meaning if that number held true for the full population about an estimated 240,000 people are without.

“It’s not surprising to see that we’re lagging behind other provinces with regards to access to family physicians,” said Dr. Lise Babin, a family physician in New Brunswick.

“That’s what the numbers have been telling us for the last years and the fact there has not been much investment in primary care in New Brunswick like in the past years, that has definitely contributed to us lagging behind.”

By comparison, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba saw the highest numbers of people reporting having a clinician at 87.4 per cent, 88.5 per cent and 88.8 per cent, respectively.

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Kiran said there could be multiple factors behind this including investments in team-based care, such as in Ontario and Alberta, or better pay that attracts doctors to those provinces.

Babin said in an interview with Global News the lack of a family doctor can lead to issues for Canadians’ health, especially those with chronic health problems.

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Health Matters: 6M Canadians still do not have access to primary care, survey suggests

A recent study from Ontario backs up Babin’s assertions, with researchers finding Ontarians with multiple chronic conditions who went without a family doctor for two or more years had 12-fold higher odds of death, and a nearly 16-fold higher chance of premature death.

The report by the CMA also looked at whether those with a clinician could get care for an urgent concern the same or following day, with only 37 per cent nationally saying they could.

Ontario reported higher than the national average at 44.6 per cent, while Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and the Northwest Territories reported lower than average rates.

“It’s not that the doctor doesn’t want to do a good job and see the patient, it’s just that we haven’t designed our systems to be able to make that easy,” said Kiran.

She said one way to improve that is more investment in inter-professional teams to “grow the capacity” of family doctors and nurse practitioners to care for people.

After-hours care was also examined, with 31 per cent of Canadians reporting someone from their primary care clinic was able to help with urgent issues outside regular weekday hours.

B.C., Alberta, and Atlantic Canadian provinces all ranked “significantly” lower than the national average.

“So there are circumstances when patients could maybe get some advice late in the evening, and that’s where 811 comes in, and there are situations where patients don’t generally abuse the emergency department,” said Dr. Eddy Lang, an emergency room physician in Calgary.

“If they’re coming to see us, they genuinely feel they have an urgent problem that requires attention.”

Overall, the report found that among those with primary care access, about 67 per cent said their doctor or nurse practitioner supports their general well-being.

But it also found satisfaction by Canadians in the primary system was still low, with just 27.8 per cent nationally saying they were satisfied with how it is working.

“I think the conclusion is that we haven’t been doing OK for many years, but I think there is optimism,” said Babin. “We just have to go with it (investments) and then just try to do as much as we can with the investments we have now and I remain optimistic that we’re going to see a difference.”

Kiran adds that since the satisfaction rate is consistent regardless if a province or territory has more people with a family doctor or not, it shows primary care is about more than just having a clinician.

“People are looking not just for a family doctor, but being able to get in in a timely way, have access to their records, be treated with respect and feel empowered to be able to take care of themselves with the information that they need,” she said.

—with files from Global News’ Katherine Ward

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

As some Ontarians remain without a family doctor, a new study shows not having one can increase your risk of death, but it found the risk is even higher for those with multiple chronic conditions the longer they’re without.

According to the study, those with multiple chronic conditions who went without a family doctor for two or more years had 12-fold higher odds of death, and a nearly 16-fold higher chance of premature death.

“So people with multiple chronic conditions who do have a family doctor compared to similar people in all other ways with multiple chronic conditions and the only real difference being they don’t have a doctor, (of) those two groups, there was double the risk of dying in the next year,” said Jonathan Fitzsimon, lead author of the study.

The study was published in the Health Affairs Scholar journal this month and saw more than 12 million Ontarians’ health records analyzed.

Of that 12 million, approximately 90 per cent or 11.5 million had a family doctor, with 83 per cent having had their physician for five years or more. The remaining 1.2 million did not have a family doctor, with the study finding roughly one-third being without one for five years or more, and 7.4 per cent without a physician for 15 or more years.

That’s a problem because when those who may need that primary care don’t get it, it can mean more burden on the health-care system.

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“Maybe there needs to be a focus as well, and some degree of priority and additional work on those unattached patients who have multiple chronic conditions, because they’re the ones who are at the most risk individually, but they also have the highest burden on our hospital system,” Fitzsimon said.

A separate study conducted by Fitzsimon and four other researchers found prolonged periods without primary care were “significantly associated” with increased health-care costs. Those with high comorbidities without a family doctor for a long period of time had a median cost of about $8,100 annually.

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Health Matters: 6M Canadians still do not have access to primary care, survey suggests

He noted the study also showed the risk for those with multiple health issues went up in the years after they lost their family doctor, especially within the first five years.

“People with chronic conditions, well-controlled, well-managed, their medications ordered, their prescriptions refilled on time, and then they lose their family doctor and now they’re having to manage these chronic conditions independently or without professional support,” Fitzsimon said.

“That leads to more emergency department visits, more hospital visits, and what we also found now in this new research, a higher association with mortality.”

Fitzsimon applauded efforts by the provincial government to get Ontarians access, noting their Primary Care Action Plan, but said action should still be taken on ensuring care gets to those who may need it the most.

Dr. Tara Kiran, a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, said not having a family doctor can pose added issues when a patient has several health issues.

“You end up going for a lot of your care to walk-in clinics or emergency departments, and those settings are actually designed to just deal with an immediate issue,” Kiran said. “They don’t provide ongoing follow-up, and it’s not really their job to manage chronic conditions over time.”

She said while these facilities can refer you to specialists, such as an endocrinologist for diabetes, it would only manage “one part of you.”

“Very different from a family doctor that manages the whole of you and balances all of those chronic conditions and your many needs,” she added.

While Kiran agrees with the need to get those with chronic conditions a family doctor first, it can be difficult to ensure they are reached due to barriers they may face.

She said the focus needs to be getting everyone care.

“In theory, we should be trying to prioritize, but in practice that’s hard and that’s why I also support the efforts to just ensure that everyone has one (a family doctor) because if we get that to everyone, that will include the people who are complex too,” Kiran said.

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.