Mississauga has longer walk-in clinic wait times, while Brampton has some of the shortest

If you need to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic quickly, you’re better off in Brampton than in Mississauga. 

That said, you won’t wait too-too long to see a physician in either city.

Medimap, a Canadian tech company that connects patients with walk-in clinics, pharmacists and other health care providers, recently released its walk-in clinic wait time index that breaks down how long a patient can expect to wait to see a doctor. 

According to the index, Ontario residents fare pretty well overall, with patients waiting 25 minutes on average–12 minutes shorter than the average Canadian wait time of 37 minutes. 

That said, the index found that patients are waiting 10 minutes longer than they waited in 2021, when the province’s average wait time sat at 15 minutes. 

Fortunately for Brampton residents, the wait to see a physician isn’t long at all–just 10 minutes. In fact, the index found Brampton boasted the shortest wait times, coming in below Hamilton (11 minutes), Toronto (15 minutes) and Oakville (22 minutes).

Mississauga residents have to wait a bit longer, as it’s one of five cities with the longest average wait times. Patients in the city can expect to wait about 21 minutes to see a physician.

Cities with longer wait times include London (80 minutes), St. Catharines (46 minutes), and Windsor (29 minutes). 

While the wait times in Brampton and Mississauga aren’t particularly long–especially in comparison to emergency department wait times–they do appear to be lengthening. 

“The drastic increase in average wait times at walk-in clinics provides further evidence that healthcare systems across the country are struggling to provide adequate care,” said Thomas Jankowski, CEO of Medimap, in a news release. 

“While there is no single solution to fix this problem, our mission at Medimap is to work with healthcare providers, including walk-in clinics, pharmacies, hospitals and allied health-care professionals to help Canadians find the care they need when they need it.”

Other provinces boast longer wait times. According to Medimap’s data, Nova Scotia and British Columbia recorded the longest average wait times, with patients waiting 83 minutes and 79 minutes, respectively.

Six of the top 10 cities with the shortest wait times are located in Ontario. 

The Medimap index uses data collected from walk-in clinics across Canada that use the company’s software to publish wait times online. 

Medimap says the majority of walk-in clinics across Canada use Medimap to share their wait times.