Fewer Canadians have doctors, StatsCan finds

Even as more Canadians report they are suffering from health problems such as blood pressure and diabetes, fewer Canadians report that they have a regular doctor. According to Statistics Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey, 84 per cent of Canadians over the age of 12 reported having a regular medical doctor in 2008. That's down from 86 per cent in 2003. But those numbers do not necessarily reflect a shortage of doctors. Among the 16 per cent of Canadians who did not have a regular doctor in 2008, 56 per cent reported that they had not looked for one.

Another 43 per cent reported they could not find a doctor, either because medical doctors in the area were not taking new patients, their medical doctor had left or retired, or there simply were no doctors in their area. But Statistics Canada says the proportion of Canadians reporting they could not find a doctor has been increasing since 2003. Women were more likely than men to report that they had a regular doctor. About 88 per cent of women had a doctor, compared with 80 per cent of men in 2008. The largest gender difference was in the age group 20 to 34. A stunning 34 per cent of men said they did not have a regular doctor, twice the 17 per cent of women...read more