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Access and Wait Times

Provincial Median Wait Times by surgical specialty are updated monthly. Long-term data is updated quarterly.

The Ministry of Health is committed to providing the best, most accurate data so patients can make the best decisions about their upcoming surgeries.

Waitlists are compiled and maintained by surgeons and hospitals. The ministry's Surgical Wait Times has detailed information by hospital and surgeon.
More than half of all surgeries in BC are done immediately, and never appear on waitlists.
Any surgery with an advance hospital booking is waitlisted, even if the surgery occurs within a day of the booking.
The number of surgeries done in some of the more common waitlist categories has increased by up to 70% since 2001.
Despite higher surgery rates and increased funding, the pressure for even more surgeries continues to rise.
The BC government is working with partners at the federal, inter-provincial and regional level to coordinate their approach to this challenge.
Canada's first ministers identified five priority medical areas as priorities for wait time improvement. BC is a leader in most of these sectors.
BC leads other provinces in providing patients and families with local, physician-specific information on wait times for surgery.
BC's wait times strategy focuses on increasing surgical capacity and developing better tools for physicians to assess patients and manage wait lists.
BC has completed its first expert panel for hip and knee joint replacement in support of the wait times strategy.