This text is a translation of an article by CTV News.

According to Angus Reid’s poll, 39% of Canadians are “public health purists,” meaning they want little or no private sector involvement in healthcare, while 28% believe “more privatization is needed.”

In the middle, 33% say they are “curious but hesitant.” This group believes the private sector could play a role in certain circumstances, but is concerned about staffing shortages in the public system and access for low-income Canadians.

Among New Democrat voters, 68% were public health purists, while 52% of Liberal voters held this position. Conservative voters, on the other hand, were more in favor of private care (50%).

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Additionally, 47% of Ontario residents identified themselves as public health purists, making Ontario more likely than any other province to oppose privatization. Angus Reid says it could be in response to “recent developments” in the province. last tuesday, The province introduced a bill allow more private clinics to offer taxpayer-funded surgeries to clear backlogs in the public system.

Meanwhile, people in Saskatchewan (40%) and Alberta (36%) were more likely to support privatization.

In addition, 45% of respondents said they feared private care would only make the system worse, while 36% said privatization would make it better. In Ontario, 53 percent said private care would make the system worse, more than any other province.

Saskatchewan and Quebec were the only two provinces where more people said private care would improve the system. In Saskatchewan, 47% agreed, while 34% said it would make the system worse. In Quebec, 40% said private care would be an improvement, while 38% disagreed.

Amid long waits in Canadian hospitals, some have floated the idea of ​​allowing patients at private clinics to pay out of pocket for faster access to surgeries and tests. 43% of respondents said they supported this idea, while 47% opposed it. Resistance to the move was strongest in Ontario, while Saskatchewan saw the highest support.

Some Canadians (43%) also believe that provinces intentionally ruin public health care to make private care look better, while an equal percentage disagree. Ontario and Manitoba had the highest proportions of residents who agreed with this statement, while top-level British Columbians and Quebecers disagreed.

There also seems to be disagreement about what constitutes “privatization” in the healthcare system. Most Canadians (71%) seem to agree that paying out of pocket is privatization. However, 33% indicated that paying third parties with public funds to provide care outside the state system is not privatization, while 51% answered “yes”.

methodology

The survey was conducted online between February 1st and 2nd among a random sample of 2,005 Canadian adults who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. The results have an error rate of +/- 2 percentage points in 19 out of 20 cases.