VICTORIA – British Columbia is currently seeing some of the longest wait times for walk-in clinics across the country, with Vancouver Island health centres being particularly egregious offenders, according new research conducted by a national clinic information organization.

According to Medimap, B.C. has more than double the average wait times for walk-in clinics than Alberta and Ontario, and the seaside town of Sidney has the longest wait times in the country.

While differentr provinces vary significantly, the provincial average wait time for walk-in clinics is approximately 31 minutes. In B.C., the average is 50 minutes, and in Sidney, the average wait time is a whopping 180 minutes, or three hours.

Sidney, however, is not the only Vancouver Island community to see significantly long wait times. In total, four major island communities are on the top 10 list of longest average wait times across the country.

Langford was in second place, with an average wait time of 117 minutes. Meanwhile, Victoria recorded the third-longest wait times in the country with an average of 92 minutes. Lastly, Nanaimo placed seventh out of the top 10 worst wait times in Canada with an average wait time of 82 minutes. 

"Of the top 10 cities with the highest average wait times in Canada, seven are in British Columbia, of which, four are on Vancouver Island," said Medimap in a news release Wednesday.

The top 10 cities with the longest wait times in Canada are:

  1. Sidney, B.C. (180 minutes)
     
  2. Langford, B.C. (117 minutes)
     
  3. Victoria, B.C. (92 minutes)
     
  4. Morinville, A.B. (91 minutes)
     
  5. Maple Ridge, B.C. (91 minutes)
     
  6. Halifax, N.S. (91 minutes)
     
  7. Nanaimo, B.C. (82 minutes)
     
  8. Williams Lake, B.C. (80 minutes)
     
  9. Kingston, Ont. (77 minutes)
     
  10. Pitt Meadows, B.C. (75 minutes)

Medimap's findings are representative of 70 per cent of clinics across Canada. However, not all provinces and territories are included in Medimap's data. The organization gathered information from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia from Nov. 1, 2018 to Oct. 31, 2019.