HN Summary

• Radiology is essential to Canada’s healthcare system, enabling accurate diagnosis and treatment, but aging equipment, workforce shortages, and rising demand are straining capacity and patient access.

• Long wait times have major impacts, with nearly 1 million Canadians waiting too long for imaging, billions in lost wages and GDP, and diagnostic delays that worsen patient outcomes.

• Strategic investment is urgently needed, including workforce expansion, modernization of imaging equipment, and adoption of decision-support and AI validation systems to ensure timely, high-quality medical imaging nationwide.

Radiology plays a critical role in Canada’s healthcare system, supporting accurate diagnoses, treatment planning, and patient outcomes for a variety of medical illnesses. Radiology is instrumental in the healthcare continuum, and many medical providers rely on medical imaging in delivering patient care.  However, long wait times, ageing equipment, and increasing demand for medical imaging pose significant challenges for patients and healthcare providers. The Value of Radiology (VOR) reports, commissioned by the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR), highlight the urgent need for strategic investment in radiology infrastructure and human resources.

Long wait times impact patients and the economy

• Nearly 1 million Canadians wait longer than recommended for medical imaging.

• Delays in medical imaging force 1 in 20 patients to stop working while awaiting a diagnosis, leading to wage losses of up to $5,853 per patient.

• We estimate that patients having to miss work while waiting for their imaging exam have lost nearly $18 billion in aggregate employment income annually, which has cost the economy $64 billion in lost GDP and $6 billion in lost tax revenues for the government.

• According to a 2025 survey conducted by Nanos Research, 11.4% of diagnostic imaging patients had to stop working while waiting for a diagnostic scan. These patients wait for an average of 84 days for an MRI scan, 66 days for a CT scan, and 30 days for an ultrasound scan.

• Demand for CT and MRI services continues to outpace supply, worsening delays in access to diagnostic imaging.

• For non-urgent scans, CAR recommends a maximum wait time of 60 days (8 weeks)

Challenges in imaging capacity

• Globally, Canada ranks 34 out of 37 OECD countries in number of MRI machines per capita, and 33 out of 36 OECD countries in number of CT machines per capita. 

• The number of scans is growing faster than the growth rate of the population: since 2015, the number of CT and MRI imaging scans per 1,000 population has grown by 7%.

• Canada maintains approximately 10.8 MRI units and 14.0 CT units per million residents, nearly unchanged from 2015 when the levels were 9.5 and 15.0, respectively.

• In 2022, Canada’s funding per capita lagged the average of its OECD peers by USD$15, or 17%. In the same year, Canada performed approximately 221 diagnostic scans per 1,000 population, below the OECD average of 247.

• Closing the gap to the OECD average alone would require a 11% increase in the number of scans delivered, implying that the total number of MRI and CT scans annually in Canada would need to increase from ~8.6 million to ~9.5 million.

The path forward: investing in radiology

To address these challenges, CAR continues to advocate for:

• Strategic federal investment in radiology workforce expansion through Health Canada to recruit and retain radiologists, MRTs, and sonographers.

• Canada is currently facing shortages of both MRTs and medical sonographers that are likely to persist for years to come. This investment will support the recruitment and retention of radiologists, medical radiation technologists (MRTs), and sonographers to reduce diagnostic backlogs, address critical vacancy rates, and build sustainable, high-quality careers in healthcare. By investing in this workforce, Canada can enhance system productivity, improve patient outcomes, and bolster economic resilience. Given that healthcare now accounts for a tenth of Canada’s GDP, investment in the sector is not only a health imperative, but also a smart economic strategy that supports long-term national growth.

• A $2 billion investment over three years to modernize radiology infrastructure and ensure timely access to diagnostic imaging.

• 2% of MRI units and 33.4% of CT units are over 10 years old.

• Older machines are slower, less accurate, and more prone to breakdowns.

• Funding for integrating Clinical Decision Support (CDS) systems into electronic medical records (EMR) and establishing the framework for the Health AI Validation Network (HAIVN)

Given the important role that radiology plays, it is important to work together as medical professions to advocate for improved access to radiology services in Canada. nH

Read the reports: Value of radiology Part1 – Part2, Impact of Delayed medical Imaging in Canada, Economic Footprint of Radiology in Canada.