If you need a hip replacement, you’re better off living in Ontario or British Columbia than in Nova Scotia or Saskatchewan.

That’s according to a new study, Wait Times Tables—A Comparison by Province, 2010, released this week by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Although a major complaint about the Canadian health care system is the length of time you can wait for treatment, the study found that — at least for high priority procedures, such as radiation therapy for cancer, cataract surgery, and hip replacements — most patients are receiving care within the recommended wait times.

However, the study also found significant variations by province. While most cancer patients receive radiation therapy within a month of requiring treatment, wait times in Alberta and Nova Scotia are notably longer.

For hip replacements, the average wait times, defined as the number of days between booking and receiving a hip replacement, ranged from 62 days in Ontario and 73 days in B.C., up to 132 days in Saskatchewan and 178 days — nearly six months — in Nova Scotia.

You can download the full CIHI wait times report here.

Most provinces also provide detailed online reports of wait times for certain types of procedures or medical services:

British Columbia Surgical Wait List Registry
Alberta Wait List Registry
Saskatchewan Surgical Care Network
Manitoba Health Services Wait Time Information
Ontario’s Wait Time Strategy Website
Ontario’s Cardiac Care Network
Ontario’s Cancer Care Wait Times Website
Quebec’s Web site on Surgery and Treatment Waiting Lists
New Brunswick Surgical Care Network
Nova Scotia Wait Times

You can also read more about the Canadian health care system in general in our Getting Started: Health Care section.

Photo © Carolyn B. Heller