Average Distance to the Nearest Physician Specialist, 1998 (kilometres)

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Abstract

An important aspect of health care is the distance a person has to travel to get medical services. This map shows the average distance that people in each census division have to travel to reach the nearest physician specialist living in the same province or territory. (A physician specialist is physician who has undertaken post-graduate degree studies to specialize in a particular branch of medicine such as cardiology or gynaecology). Because physician specialists tend to be found in urban areas, the map essentially shows the distance to the nearest city. This concentration means that generally rural and northern residents must travel considerable distances to see specialists.

The patterns shown on the map clearly reflect both the general distribution of population and population density in Canada and the distribution of physician specialists. In fact, the spatial patterns that are expressed in this map actually reflect "distance to the nearest urban centre" as the majority of physician specialists live in metropolitan areas of the country.

Figures 1a and 1b highlight the very significant differences in distances to the nearest physician specialist when general rural and urban groupings of the census divisions (CDs) are employed. Residents of predominantly urban and intermediate areas of Canada have on average less than 10 kilometres to travel to the nearest family physician. In predominantly rural areas the average distance exceeds 60 kilometres and in northern areas of the country the average exceeds 300 kilometres.

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Figure 1a. Average Distance to the Nearest Physician Specialist, 1998 (based on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) urban-rural Classifications)

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Figure 1b. Average Distance to the Nearest Physician Specialist, 1998 (based on Metro Adjacency Categories)