A shortage of doctors and nurses remains a significant problem, particularly in British Columbia and the Atlantic provinces.
Vancouver, BC [May 29, 2025] – Negative views on the state of Canada’s health care system have subsided over the past year, a new Research Co. poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample, just over seven-in-ten Canadians (71%) are “very confident” or “moderately confident” that the country’s health care system would be there to provide the help and assistance that they would need if they had to face an unexpected medical condition or disease, up seven points since a similar Research Co. poll conducted in May 2024.
“More than seven-in-ten Quebecers (76%) and Ontarians (73%) express confidence in the health care system being there for them,” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “The rating is lower in Alberta (69%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (68%), British Columbia (67%) and Atlantic Canada (59%).”
More than half of Canadians (56%, +3) say there are some good things in Canada’s health care system, but many changes are required, while about one-in-four (23%, +4) think Canada’s health care system works well, and only minor changes are needed to make it work better. Fewer than one-in-five Canadians (17%, -6) believe Canada’s health care system has so much wrong with it that we need to completely rebuild it.
When asked about the biggest problem facing the health care system, more than a third of Canadians (35%, -2) point to a shortageof doctors and nurses, while fewer mention long wait times (23%, -1) and bureaucracy and poor management (16%, +2).
Fewer than one-in-ten Canadians are primarily concerned about four other issues: inadequate resources and facilities (9%, +1), lack of a wider range of services for patients (6%, +2), little focus on preventive care (5%, =) and insufficient standards of hygiene (2%, -1).
Concerns about long wait times are significantly higher than the national average in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (34%), while Quebecers are more likely to say that the biggest problem with the health care system is bureaucracy and poor management (26%).
Alberta has the largest proportion of respondents who think the main hindrance with health care is inadequate resources and facilities (15%), while a shortage of doctors and nurses is the prevalent worry for Atlantic Canadians (49%) and British Columbians (47%).
More than a third of Canadians (36%, +1) think health care in Canada would be better than it is now if it were run by the private sector.
There are some significant age and political differences on this question. Half of Canadians aged 18-to-34 (50%) and almost half of Conservative Party voters in this year’s federal election (48%) believe private health care would be superior to the public system. Significantly fewer Canadians aged 35-to-54 (39%), Canadians aged 55 and over (20%), Liberal Party voters (32%) and New Democratic Party (NDP) voters (28%) concur.
Just under one-in-four Canadians (24%, +4) think the federal government should make cuts to health care funding in order to reduce government debt—a view shared by 33% of Canadians aged 18-to-34.
Methodology: Results are based on an online survey conducted from May 4 to May 6, 2025, among 1,001 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to census figures for age, gender and region in Canada. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.
Find our data tables here and download the press release here.
For more information on this poll, please contact:
Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca