2025-10-15 from fraserinstitute.org

Poor access to health care is having very real and tragic consequences for Atlantic Canadians. For example, due to her inability to access advanced treatment for lymphedema, Jennifer Brady of Halifax applied for medical assistance in dying (MAID), but changed her mind after the Nova Scotia government finally promised to pay for her treatment outside the province. For others, including Darrell Mesheau, who died while waiting for care at an emergency room in Fredericton, the tragic outcome was death.

These recent stories are, sadly, not unusual. In 2023/24 alone, at least 648 patients died in Atlantic Canada while waiting for surgeries and diagnostic scans (these data are unavailable for Newfoundland and Labrador). And according to a recent report, last year in Atlantic Canada 144,461 patients, including patients classified as “urgent” or “very urgent,” left emergency rooms before being treated. That equals between 10 per cent and 14 per cent of emergency room visits. 

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