News
95% of Ontarians Support Fixing the Referral System to Help Patients Get Care Faster: Poll
Family Physicians Call for a Modern Referral System to Improve Patient Access to Specialist Appointments and Diagnostic Tests
“We see how waiting without answers affects our patients,” said Dr. Jobin Varughese, President of the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP). “Patients deserve a coordinated system that optimizes getting the right care at the right time, and family physicians want to help make that happen.”
The poll highlights the challenges patients face in accessing specialist appointments and diagnostic tests, such as MRIs and CT scans. Seventy per cent of Ontarians say they or someone they know has waited more than three months for specialist or diagnostic care, including more than one-third who waited longer than six months.
For patients and their families, not knowing when care will come can take a real toll. Four in five Ontarians are concerned about how long it takes to get specialist appointments and diagnostic tests, and nearly all Ontarians (94 per cent) agree that long wait times cause unnecessary stress and put patients’ health at risk.
The polling also shows strong public support for modernizing how referrals work. Ninety-five per cent of Ontarians agree that family physicians should have access to a centralized referral system to help patients get care faster.
In response, family physicians are bringing forward solutions to improve the referral process and are ready to work with the Ontario government, other specialists, and partners to advance the province’s priority of improving access to care.
“When your health, or the health of someone you love, is on the line, every day matters,” said Deepy Sur, CEO of the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP). “Together, we can build a coordinated system that gets people the care they need, when they need it.”
The OCFP is calling for a province-wide, centralized referral system to create a more coordinated path to care. Family physicians would have one place to go to manage referrals electronically and more efficiently, and cases would be prioritized based on urgency. Modernizing the referral process would help patients get care faster and with greater clarity, while allowing physicians to spend less time managing referrals and more time delivering care.
“Advocating for patients shouldn’t mean hours lost on paperwork,” said Sur. “A modern referral system would allow family physicians to spend less time on administrative work, and more time caring for patients and supporting them every step of the way.”
This work is being driven by the Ontario College of Family Physicians’ Care When You Need It campaign, which brings together patient and physician voices from across the province to support improved access to care.
Learn more and take part in the campaign at:
www.CareWhenYouNeedIt.ca
-30-
Methodology
This survey was conducted by Abacus Data with 1,500 Ontarians aged 18+ from November 20 to 27, 2025. The margin of error for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is +/- 2.53%, 19 times out of 20. The data were weighted according to census data to ensure that the sample matched Ontario’s population according to age, gender, and region.
About the Ontario College of Family Physicians
The Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) represents more than 18,000 family physicians and medical students, including residents, retired family physicians, and more than 15,000 who are working in communities providing care to patients.
Media Contact:
Yara Salama
Director of Strategic Communications, OCFP
media@ocfp.on.ca