opinion: there’s too much red tape in canadian health care
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health-care workers walk across a sky bridge at a hospital in montreal, que.
graham hughes/the canadian press files
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health ministries across canada are facing a perfect storm: a chronic shortage of health-care professionals, an aging population with more complex needs, and facilities already operating at or beyond capacity. canadians feel these pressures every day as they wait longer for appointments, struggle to find a family doctor and see the toll the system takes on the people caring for them.
according to a new report from the canadian federation of independent business (cfib) and the canadian medical association (cma), canadian physicians spend an average of nine hours a week on administrative tasks, totalling 42.7 million hours across the country. nearly half this time — approximately 19.8 million hours — is spent on unnecessary tasks. eliminating this red tape would free up the equivalent of 9,000 full-time equivalent physicians nationwide.
administrative tasks that don’t require a doctor’s clinical expertise — filling out insurance and government forms, making pharmacy referrals and electronic record-keeping — drain time, energy and focus from doctors already stretched thin. the strain translates into rushed visits, delayed followups and less time for meaningful conversations with patients about their health.
there is also an emotional burden. red tape pulls physicians away from medical care and fuels fatigue and burnout. fully 93 per cent of doctors say administrative work disrupts their work–life balance; 95 per cent that unnecessary paperwork reduces professional fulfillment; and 90 per cent that clinical documentation contributes to burnout. all patient encounters need to be documented, but how that has to be done, sometimes repeatedly, contributes to burnout. more than half of physicians say that in the next two years they plan to cut their hours, while one in four is considering leaving medicine or retiring earlier than expected.
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the potential gains from reducing physicians’ unnecessary paper burden are clearly substantial. individual doctors could reclaim roughly 199 hours a year, more than a full month of work. physicians say that if the red tape were cut, they would use the freed-up time to improve their work–life balance, spend more time with existing patients and take on new patients where possible.
reducing red tape doesn’t just help doctors, however. like all canadians, owners of small businesses depend on timely access to health care for themselves and their employees. according to cfib data, 67 per cent of owners identify improving accessibility to health care as a top priority. when care is delayed, so is their ability to run their businesses. more efficient health care therefore benefits everyone, from patients to providers to the businesses that rely on a healthy workforce.
when doctors were asked about ways to reduce the administrative burden, most suggested eliminating selected tasks and improving the electronic sharing of patient records. specific suggestions were to simplify insurer processes, delegate duties and provide protected and paid administrative time.
some provinces are already showing what meaningful progress looks like. nova scotia, a national leader, has cut dozens of outdated or duplicative requirements and launched other initiatives to streamline paperwork. with cma’s support, doctors manitoba is working to eliminate unnecessary requests for sick notes and create standardized forms for third‑party paperwork. after the ontario college of family physicians quantified the administrative burden, the ontario government introduced ai scribes to free up physician time.
technology is an important part of the solution. adoption is still in the early stages, but many physicians see ai as a way to reduce administrative workload. in fact, 45 per cent say adopting tools such as ai scribes and ai‑powered agents is a priority worth exploring, while 28 per cent are already using an ai scribe.
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ai solutions are especially well‑suited to tackling the most time‑consuming administrative tasks physicians identified, including documentation, form completion, and communication across care settings. by automating repetitive, manual processes, ai can reduce duplicate data entry, improve consistency across records and reduce the strain from excessive paperwork.
administrative burden has become a real disease, but treatment is available. cutting red tape is one of the fastest and easiest ways to protect physician well‑being and improve canadians’ quality of care. canada cannot afford to lose more physicians to burnout because of avoidable paperwork. freeing-up what amounts to the equivalent of 9,000 physicians’ time is entirely within our reach. governments need to cure the red-tape disease and make efficiency a permanent prescription for a healthier future.
margot burnell, a physician, is president of the canadian medical association. corinne pohlmann is executive vice-president of the canadian federation of independent business.
this article was originally published in the financial post on january 28, 2026.
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