Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) collects, analyzes and publishes data and information in a standardized way that allows every jurisdiction to understand, compare and use the data and information effectively to make the decisions that lead to healthier Canadians.
Since 1994, CIHI has played a unique role in Canada’s health sector. Working with our partners, they have:
- Helped improve the depth and breadth of Canada’s health data.
- Built and maintained 27 critical pan-Canadian databases that enable jurisdictions to compare data.
- Produced analyses on health and health care in Canada that are relevant, timely and actionable.
- Increased the understanding and use of data through education, reporting tools and strategies.
Wait Times in Canada— A Summary, 2012
In 2004, Canada’s first ministers agreed to reduce wait times in five priority areas: cancer treatment, cardiac care, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement and sight restoration. They also agreed to work towards meeting evidence-based benchmarks–or targets–for medically acceptable waits, which were established in late 2005 for some priority procedures. CIHI was mandated to collect wait times information and monitor provincial progress in meeting benchmarks. Wait Times in Canada–A Summary, 2012 is CIHI’s seventh annual report in this series and is accompanied by a new graphic display of wait time data across Canada.
Contact CIHI at communications@cihi.ca or go to their Contact Us page for information on their five regional offices.
Wait Times for Priority Procedures in Canada, 2015
The report includes regional data for hip and knee replacements, as well as provincial data in 5 priority areas, including cancer treatment, cardiac care, diagnostic imaging, joint replacement and sight restoration. It provides a longitudinal look at wait time trends using 5 years of pan-Canadian data. Important to cancer patents, 98% of radiation therapy was delivered within the 4 week benchmark, which has remained consistent since 2010, even though there has been a 34% increase in the number of patients receiving radiation.
In canada, among the 5 most common types of cancer, prostate cancer had the longest wait time for surgery, with a mean of 35 days. Conpared with data from 2013, the wait times across surgeries for all 5 major cancers remained constant.