Sask. walk-in clinic wait times increased 20 minutes in 2023

You’d better bring a book.

Wait times at walk-in medical clinics are getting longer across Canada, and Saskatchewan is no exception.

According to data from Medimap, an online service that lets patients book appointments and check wait times at clinics, Canada’s average wait time was 68 minutes in 2023, a 20-minute jump over the average wait time in 2022.

The numbers come directly from clinics which use Medimap to share their wait times online. The service operates in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

In Saskatchewan, Medimap reported that the average wait for patients in 2023 was 71 minutes.

While Regina’s walk-in wait times were below the national average at 61 minutes, Saskatoon patients were waiting an average of 76 minutes before seeing a doctor.

The report indicated wait times in the province have risen sharply since 2019, when the average Saskatchewan patient waited just 27 minutes at walk-in clinics. Those wait times rose to 31 minutes in 2020 and 51 minutes in 2022.

Manitoba had the shortest wait times, with the average patient seeing a doctor after just 45 minutes.

The longest wait times were found in B.C., where the 2023 average was 93 minutes. Patients in North Vancouver waited an average of 187 minutes at clinics, the report indicated.

“On average British Columbians had to wait more than double the amount of time (93 minutes) to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic, compared to Ontarians who waited an average of 59 minutes,” the report read.

The provincial government in Saskatchewan is taking steps to try and address short-staffing within the health-care system, including an ambitious recruitment initiative that aims to add 1,000 new workers to the health system.