As some provinces turn to the private sector to address pressures in the healthcare system, a new poll suggests more Canadians than ever are open to the idea of private delivery of healthcare.
The Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News between Jan. 19 and Jan. 23, 2023, found 59 percent of the 1,001 adults surveyed expressed support for the private delivery of publicly-funded health services.
Sixty percent of respondents were also in favor of private health care for those who can afford it.
Darrell Bricker, CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs, says in the 30 years he has studied public opinion in Canada, he has never seen such a shift in support toward privatization.
“This is the first time I can recall in which you actually got numbers like that, where you’d have a majority of Canadians saying they’re open to considering private methods of delivery,” he told Global News.
Until now, maintaining Canada’s public health-care system has been a “cornerstone” of Canadian politics and any mention of privatization has been met with strong resistance — even repulsion — and has elicited fears of moving toward an American-style system of access, he said.
But given that a vast majority of Canadians surveyed, 85 percent, now say they believe “drastic changes” are needed in the health system to meet the needs of the community, attitudes toward privatization appear to be shifting, Bricker said.
