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The Fraser Institute report raises questions about where New Brunswickers are going for treatment and why
Published Jan 13, 2026 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
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A urology operating room is pictured. A new report estimates that 1,659 New Brunswickers left the province last year to seek medical care outside Canada. New Brunswickers most frequently left the province seeking urology treatment, according to the data, with 446 people, 4.3 per cent of patients, estimated to travel outside of Canada to do so. POSTMEDIA ARCHIVESArticle content
A new report estimates that 1,659 New Brunswickers left the province last year to seek medical care outside Canada.
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The Fraser Institute’s trio of authors behind the report suggest it provides new “insights into the state of health care and medical tourism.”
New Brunswickers most frequently left the province seeking urology treatment, according to the data, with 446 people, 4.3 per cent of patients, estimated to travel outside of Canada to do so.
“Canadians who choose to seek treatment abroad do so for several reasons, many of which may relate to their inability to access quality health care in a timely fashion within Canada’s borders,” reads the report released on Tuesday written by Mackenzie Moir, Nadeem Esmail, and Yanick Labrie.
They note that some patients may be sent out of country by the public health care system due to a lack of available resources or because some procedures or equipment are not provided in their home jurisdiction.
Others may choose to leave Canada because they are concerned about quality or better outcomes, they add.
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That’s as some may leave in order to avoid some of the adverse medical consequences of waiting for care, such as worsening of their condition.
While there is no readily available data on the number of Canadians travelling abroad for health care, the report’s authors have come up with an estimate from the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of Canadian doctors and from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which tallies the numbers of procedures performed in Canada.
Where New Brunswick ranks
The province’s Department of Health did not comment on Tuesday.
While the number sounds large, New Brunswick is in the middle of the pack.
The report states 1.8 per cent of the province’s patients received treatment outside of Canada last year.
That’s behind Alberta’s three per cent, which ranks highest, 2.9 per cent in British Columbia, and 2.3 per cent in Ontario.
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The national average is 2.1 per cent.
Still, the New Brunswick figure was the highest in the region, ahead of 1.5 per cent in Prince Edward Island, 1.2 per cent in Nova Scotia, and 0.8 per cent in Newfoundland and Labrador, also the country’s lowest mark.
The report estimates that 105,529 Canadians may have received treatment outside of the country in 2025.
New Brunswickers most frequently left the province seeking urology treatment, with 446 people, 4.3 per cent of patients, estimated doing so.
The province’s surgical wait times dashboard states that nine out of 10 prostate and bladder surgeries in the province are completed within 191 days, just over six months.
But that varies depending on where you live.
The wait is as long as 286 days in Sussex, about nine and a half months, and 235 days at the Moncton hospital, nearly eight months.
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It’s as low as 70 days at the Edmundston Regional Hospital.
The Fraser report also suggests 213 New Brunswickers had general surgery outside of Canada last year, another 126 received orthopedic surgery, and 99 sought ophthalmology treatment.
A largest category lists 693 with unspecified care.
Why it matters
New Brunswick Health Council CEO Stéphane Robichaud said Tuesday that there is a risk that a system with higher wait times would see New Brunswickers explore options elsewhere.
“There is a logical tendency,” he said. “It’s something you can expect if wait times continue to get longer, that more and more people will look for other options.”
But Robichaud added that it’s also “not an option for many,” referencing the financial implications that most would face in deciding to travel elsewhere and pay for services out of pocket.
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It results in the fundraising drives that we occasionally see where families make public calls for help, he said.
Robichaud also noted that the New Brunswick doctors themselves do refer patients elsewhere, although often within Canada, for treatment when a particular specialty isn’t offered in New Brunswick.
But he added that there’s little data that actually tracks where people go and why.
“It’s not something we’ve ever worked with,” Robichaud said.
“We don’t have any measurements about going internationally for services.”
The Fraser Institute has produced these estimates in the past, but haven’t since 2016.
At that time, the institute found that just one per cent of patients from New Brunswick were travelling outside the country for treatment.
The reports don’t provide any breakdown of where patients headed.
The Fraser report states that its findings flag a concern at home.
“Clearly, the number of Canadians who ultimately receive their medical care in other countries is not insignificant,” reads the report. “That a considerable number of Canadians travelled abroad and paid to escape the well-known failings of the Canadian health-care system speaks volumes about how well the system is working for them.”
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