Conservative MP Dan Mazier is accusing Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government of promoting Canada’s “free health care” abroad while millions of Canadians struggle to access basic medical services.
In a statement released Tuesday, Mazier said, “Carney’s immigration department is advertising Canada’s free health care to the world, trying to increase immigration levels, while 6.5 million Canadians can’t see a family doctor.”
“Emergency rooms are closing because there’s no capacity, and patients are dying waiting for care,” Mazier added. “Instead of fixing the crisis at home, the Liberals are running international ads bragging about a broken system to increase immigration numbers.”
Canada’s hospitals and emergency departments are under severe strain. In Quebec, ERs recently operated at over 200 percent capacity, with average wait times around five hours and some patients staying more than 16 hours on stretchers.
Some EDs nationwide report average waits for hospital beds of 22 hours—nearly triple recommended benchmarks. Ontario data show only 23 percent of patients are admitted within eight hours, missing provincial targets.
In British Columbia, the number of patients leaving ERs without being seen jumped 86 percent over seven years: 141,961 individuals walked out during fiscal 2024.
Across Canada, observers note that ED overcrowding contributes to patients dying while waiting, emergency department closures due to staffing shortages, and a growing number of visits for conditions that arguably belong in primary care.
Mazier, the Conservative MP for Riding Mountain, linked the country’s health care shortages to what he called “out-of-control immigration,” arguing the federal government has not considered the strain on hospitals and primary care.
“This is what happens when a government floods the system with out-of-control immigration while failing to take into account health care capacity,” he said. “It’s not fair to Canadians waiting for care, and it’s not fair to the newcomers who are being sold a false bill of goods.”
Mazier concluded, “compassion must consider capacity,” urging the federal government to reduce immigration targets until Canada’s healthcare system can meet existing demand.