What the OurCare report tells us, and what it can’t

Canada’s largest primary-care survey reports that more people now have access to a provider. The estimated number of adults without primary care fell from roughly 6.5 million in 2022 to 5.9 million today.

It’s a meaningful shift. 
But it’s not the whole story.

The report analyzed more than 16,000 responses, and is one of the clearest snapshots we have into the state of primary care.

There is progress in these numbers. And limits to what they can show.
 

What’s missing: provincial realities

Primary-care access across Canada has never been uniform.

In the 2022 survey, provincial differences were stark:
Ontario reported relatively strong attachment; Quebec, Atlantic provinces, and B.C. were struggling; the territories weren’t measured at all.

This year, that variation is still important — arguably more than the national numbers. But the provincial and territorial results aren’t included in the 2025 release.

Dr. Tara Kiran, physician and researcher at St. Michael’s Hopsital and the University of Toronto, and OurCare’s Principal Investigator, spoke with CHW​ about the new report.

Kiran said the province-by-province breakdown won’t be published until early 2026. “We are not releasing the provincial–territorial results until early 2026,” she said, noting that territorial data was still being collected when the report was finalized.

Without provincial detail, it isn’t possible to know where access actually improved or where inequities widened. With this data not yet released, the most consequential question in primary care is left​ unanswered:

Which jurisdictions are driving Canada’s progress, and which are holding it back?
 

Where the system is slipping

Some deeper numbers capture how Canadians actually experienced primary care in 2025.

Only 28% of respondents said they were satisfied with how primary care is working.

And just 22% said they knew what to do if something goes wrong with their care.

More people have a point of contact, but it isn’t translating to system confidence.

For those with a primary provider, only 37% said they could get seen promptly for an urgent problem.

“Even those people who do have primary care still struggle with accessing care when they need it,” Kiran said. “Especially when they have an urgent issue or need help after hours.”

Timely access isn't a luxury metric.

A recent study of nearly ten million patients in Ontario, co-authored by Kiran, showed that over 12% live more than 30km away from their family physician. These patients had lower cancer screening rates and higher non-urgent emergency department use.
 

Paying to bridge access gaps

One number shows very clearly how some people are navigating today’s fractured systems.

Among respondents without a family doctor or nurse practitioner, 11% said they paid out of pocket for care in the past year. Most of these payments were for appointments and consultations.
 

What 'improved access' really means

Correction (Dec. 9, 2025): An earlier version of this section implied that the 1.4% of adults who receive ongoing primary care through a team or clinic were included within the 81% of respondents who reported having a family doctor or nurse practitioner. In fact, the 81% figure refers only to those with a named provider, making it directly comparable to 2022’s 77%. Including the new “place of care” category brings the 2025 estimate to 82.4%.

This year’s upgraded survey methods​ add necessary nuance to the story around improved access.

In 2025, anyone who said they​ did not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner was asked a new follow-up question: whether they had a regular place of care, such as a community health centre or nurse practitioner-led clinic.

This new question identified an additional 1.4% of adults who have consistent access, even if not through a named provider. Because this category didn't exist in 2022, it has no direct historical comparator.

The topline comparison of 77% in 2022 vs 81% in 2025 is methodologically sound, as it refers to the same provider-based question asked in both years. But the broader 2025 estimate of access (82.4% when the new category is included) cannot be mapped cleanly onto the earlier survey.

Within the comparable figures, the gain is modest: 81% (CI 79.9–82.2) stands above the upper bound of 2022’s interval (75–79), indicating a real but narrow improvement. There’s something real there, but it is by no means transformative.

Access is up. System performance isn’t.