'Totally dysfunctional': Older Canadians anxious about health-care access as senior population rises

A shortage of health-care workers in Canada has left many seniors unable to secure a family doctor or book surgeries within a reasonable time frame, experts say. With the senior population expected to rise to new heights in the coming decades, doctors are warning that the current state of the health-care system may lead to more delays, which could increase the risk of mortality among seniors unable to access the care they need.

Sandy Marsh has been nursing a knee injury for eight months, suffering from a torn meniscus and Baker’s cyst. Although the 66-year-old from Okotoks, Alta., says her condition is improving, recovery is a struggle without support from a family doctor.

Marsh has not had a primary health-care provider since August, after her family physician left their local health clinic to pursue a new career path.

“There are so many people and so few doctors,” Marsh told CTVNews.ca in a telephone interview.

She is one of a handful of seniors across the country who wrote to CTVNews.ca about their struggles with finding a family doctor. Particularly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, health-care systems throughout the country have been facing staffing shortages caused by an exodus of nurses and other health-care workers who left the profession.

As a result, some Canadians are unable to secure a family doctor or book surgeries within a reasonable time frame, says Dr. Lesley Charles, a professor in the department of family medicine at the University of Alberta. With the senior population expected to rise to new heights in the coming decades, experts are warning that Canada’s health-care system is not ready for an aging population and may leave seniors behind.

New statistics from Environics Analytics, a marketing and analytical services company owned by Bell Canada, show the country’s senior population is projected to surpass 11 million by 2043. The data, based on a special analysis for CTV News, paints the senior population as the fastest-growing age group in the country. This increase in the number of Canadians aged 65 and older will have far-reaching implications, particularly on the country’s health-care sector, said Charles.