Manitoba’s Soaring ER Wait Times Aren’t About Funding — They’re About Fear of Change

The latest report from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) confirms what too many Manitobans have already experienced: emergency room wait times are worsening. In 2024, the median wait in Manitoba reached four hours. That’s 48 minutes longer than five years ago. In Winnipeg, the situation is even more dire. At St. Boniface Hospital, the median ER stay was 10 hours and 30 minutes, while Grace Hospital followed closely at just over 10 hours.

This isn’t a resource problem. It’s a structural failure.

We have to stop pretending Canada’s health care system is working. It isn’t. And it’s not going to magically improve by recycling the same ideas through a different political lens. Premier Wab Kinew campaigned on fixing health care. Since then, we’ve seen more talk, more tours, and more bureaucracy — but no measurable improvement. The numbers are clear: emergency care is slower, access is uneven, and our hospitals are buckling under pressure.

It’s time we stop blaming individuals and start questioning the system itself. Canada clings to a single-payer health care model based on assumptions from the 1960s. Health care needs have evolved. The system hasn’t.

In 2022, we spent over $331 billion on health care — 12.2% of our GDP. Yet we rank near the bottom among developed countries when it comes to access and wait times. According to the Fraser Institute, Canada has some of the highest administrative costs in the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). Layers of managers, executives, and consultants consume resources that never reach a patient or front-line worker.

And while this inefficiency plays out, thousands of Canadians wait. Some die in ERs. Some give up on getting care at all.

We’ve got to be honest with ourselves. This isn’t just a funding problem. It’s a delivery problem. Too much of our health care system is reactive, not preventative. We wait until people are sick, then scramble to help them. Mental health services are thin. Long-term care is consistently short-staffed. The pandemic exposed these vulnerabilities, but nothing has been done to fix them.

And when anyone dares to suggest reform, the conversation is shut down. The fearmongering begins: “This will lead to American-style health care,” they say. But that argument falls apart under scrutiny.

Look at Switzerland. The country guarantees universal health care using a regulated public-private model. Citizens are required to purchase insurance from not-for-profit private providers. The government steps in with subsidies for those who need help. Coverage is standardized, access is guaranteed, and outcomes are better. Switzerland ranks above Canada in patient satisfaction, access, and life expectancy. Their average life expectancy is 84 years. Canada’s is 82.3.

Switzerland proves that a mixed model doesn’t destroy universal access — it strengthens it. France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden all use versions of this approach. None of these countries have abandoned public care. They’ve simply allowed innovation and competition to make service delivery faster and more responsive.

Here in Canada, we remain stuck in an ideological battle that benefits no one.

The MEI report points out that countries like France operate Immediate Medical Care Centres — independent clinics that handle non-urgent issues. These facilities relieve pressure on ERs. That’s exactly the kind of solution Manitoba should be testing right now. But we’re not. Because we’re still trying to fix a 20th-century model with 21st-century money.

Let’s also talk about talent.

Canada isn’t just struggling to keep doctors and nurses — we can’t even attract them. In Manitoba, there are 346 physician vacancies. Across the country, over six million Canadians don’t have a family doctor. Our own regulatory systems are making the problem worse. This week, The Globe and Mail reported that the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba is resisting a provincial directive to comply with the Canadian Free Trade Agreement — legislation that’s supposed to allow nurses licensed in one province to work in another. Instead of welcoming qualified professionals, we’re putting up roadblocks.

Premier Kinew suggested Manitoba could attract U.S. medical professionals by targeting those who aren’t fans of Donald Trump. That's unrealistic. Political marketing won’t draw doctors to Winnipeg. But real incentives might.

What if we offered American-trained doctors and nurses a five-year provincial tax exemption in exchange for a service commitment? What if we streamlined licensing for qualified professionals from jurisdictions with comparable standards? What if we treated medical talent like the competitive advantage it is — and fought to bring it here?

Instead, we keep throwing money at a model that’s leaking from every seam. And it’s not just inefficient — it’s unfair.

Critics warn of a two-tiered system if we open the door to public-private care. But we already have one. Wealthier Canadians are flying to the U.S. or Europe for procedures. The rest sit on waitlists. A properly regulated dual-track system would allow people to pay for enhanced services without weakening the core public system. It would also take pressure off hospitals — and bring some market discipline into the system.

It’s not about privatizing care. It’s about modernizing delivery. It’s about outcomes. It’s about giving Canadians options and giving health care workers the tools they need to do their jobs.

We need to let go of the idea that our current system — defined by bureaucracy, waitlists, and burnout — is somehow the gold standard. It’s not. And every year we delay reform, the price is paid in human lives and lost potential.

Switzerland, Germany, France — they didn’t abandon their values. They updated their methods. And it’s working.

Canada needs to do the same.

Let’s stop pretending we can fix this with another task force or funding announcement. Let’s stop believing politicians who promise they can “fix health care” without touching the structure. They can’t. And if they don’t have the courage to say what needs to be said — that the model itself is broken — then it’s up to us to start the conversation.

Because every hour someone waits in an ER is a reminder that we waited too long to change.

The sooner we admit that, the sooner we can start building a system that actually works.