Half of Canadians believe the creation of new private care options would have a negative impact on the country’s health-care system, an Angus Reid Institute poll suggests.
The August online survey of 2,279 adults from across the country found that 32 per cent believe private options would improve the ailing system, while 18 per cent weren’t sure.
Angus Reid Institute president Shachi Kurl described the findings as a “softening” on both sides of the public-private debate, which was likely more polarized between 20 and 30 years ago.
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“If you are someone who is a no absolute care absolutist, you’re going to be worried that it’s only 50 per cent who are thinking the same way you are,” she told Global News.
“If you’re somebody who’s maybe more open to the notion of private care, that 30 per cent maybe isn’t the number you’re looking for, but at the same time, it’s a lot higher than it might have been a generation ago.”
The findings published Monday are the third in a series from the Angus Reid Institute, which examined access to health care in Canada and the United States. In Canada, the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20, and in the U.S., plus or minus three percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
