When asked why they want to live and work in Canada, one of the common answers I receive from my clients is because of Canada's Government Health Care System. They think that they will be better of with Canada's health care system.
But is Canada's health care system really good?
Have you heard about Top 8 Reasons not to Immigrate to Canada? Top 6 reason is because of Canada's health care crisis.
Practicing physicians in Canada are in a shortage, 1 in 4 Canadians cannot get a family doctor. Canadian doctors are leaving to move permanently to the United States. Statistics Canada and the Canadian Medical Association both have identified that for every 1 American doctor that moves to Canada, 19 (nineteen) Canadian doctors move to the United States! Doctors in Canada are overworked and underpaid, and there is a cap on their salaries.
And then consider this story from CNN
KINGSTON, Ontario (CNN) -- For Shona Holmes, simple pleasures such as playing with her dog or walking in her plush garden are a gift.
After suffering from crushing headaches and vision problems, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor four years ago. She was told if it wasn't removed, she could go blind or even die.
"They said to me that you had a brain tumor and it was pressing on your optic chasm and that it needed to come out immediately," Holmes said.
Holmes is Canadian, but the "they" she refers to are doctors at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, where she turned after specialists in her own government-run health care system would not see her fast enough.
Now, do you still want to live and work in Canada? Undecided now? Let me help you decide.
If you think that you and your family will have a better health care system by staying at where you are, then don't immigrate to Canada!
But before you think ill of Canada's Health Care System, I suggest you watch Sicko, video a documentary made by Michael Moore:
Sicko is a 2007 documentary film by American film maker Michael Moore. The film investigates the American health care system, focusing on its health insurance and pharmaceutical industry. The film compares the for-profit, non-universal U.S. system with the non-profit universal health care systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.[Source]
Canadian officials and doctors insist most life-threatening cases are treated quickly. That they are looking at what they have to do to prioritize patients -- critically ill versus purely elective surgeries.
Toronto's Doug Wright can attest to that. The 40-year-old father of three young boys found out last month he has cancer -- a tumor on his leg.
But he says he never had to wait more than five days to see a specialist or get a test. And from diagnosis to surgery, it will be just over a month.
"The community medical system thought this process could not have been any better. I have not had to wait to see some of the best specialists in the country, who are renowned internationally," Wright said.[Source]
Canada's health care system may not be perfect nor the best. But it's working.
