Canada has always enjoyed good healthcare among many countries that have high salaries and incomes among wealthy countries around the world, but it lagged in ranking and occupied the last place in obtaining primary healthcare in a report that included 10 high-income countries issued by the Canadian Institute for Health Information yesterday Thursday.

86 percent of Canadians aged 18 and over said they have a doctor or a place they usually go to for medical care in a 2023 survey conducted by Commonwealth Fund.

This is less than the 93% surveyed in 2016, meaning that an estimated four million Canadian adults did not receive primary care last year.

The percentage of people who received medical care was lower than in any of the other countries included in the study, which included Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The average among all ten countries was 93 percent.

The Netherlands received the best rating, with 99 percent of adults living there reporting that they received primary care in 2023.

The performance of the United States was slightly better than Canada, with 87 percent of American adults saying they have access to healthcare.

Only 26 percent of Canadian adults were able to get medical care this quickly, down from 46 percent in 2016.

The survey revealed that low-income Canadian households were less likely to have a primary care provider than those with high income.

It also found that 39% of Canadians without primary care suffer from at least one chronic health condition, and 29% take one or more prescribed medications.

Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic, along with economic pressures, had its negative impact on Canadians, with 29 percent of adults reporting depression, anxiety, or any other mental health condition in 2023.