Survey on Health Care Access and Experiences - Primary and Specialist Care

Start your survey

Have you been invited to participate in this survey via email or mail? To log in to the survey, complete the following steps.

Step 1: Visit the electronic questionnaire portal and select Start my survey.

Step 2: Enter your secure access code (you will find this code in the invitation letter or email you previously received from Statistics Canada).

Step 3: Complete the survey.

Are you missing your secure access code, or do you need help?

Phone:

1-877-949-9492
(TTY: 1-800-363-7629)
Monday to Friday (except holidays) from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern time

If you use an operator-assisted relay service, you can call us during regular business hours. You do not need to authorize the operator to contact us.

Email:

The purpose of the Survey on Health Care Access and Experiences - Primary and Specialist Care is to better understand how Canadians navigate the health care system, including challenges or barriers they may face.

Topics covered include the access to and use of primary health care and specialist care, care coordination, barriers to care, prescription medications, and out-of-pocket expenses.

The results may be used by Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and provincial ministries of health to help inform the delivery of health care services, and to develop and improve programs and policies to better serve all Canadians. Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes. In addition, information from partially completed or unsaved questionnaires may be retained and used.


Collection period:

From January 3 to November 3, 2024


Collection methods:

Electronic questionnaire and telephone interview


Survey participation:

Voluntary

Confidentiality

Data are collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S-19. Your information will be kept strictly confidential.

Data sharing agreements and record linkage

Data sharing agreements

To avoid duplication of surveys, Statistics Canada may enter agreements to share the data from this survey with provincial ministries of health, the Institut de la statistique du Québec, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The Institut de la statistique du Québec and provincial ministries of health may make this data available to local health authorities.

Data shared with your ministry of health or the Institut de la statistique du Québec may also include identifiers such as name, address, telephone number and health number. Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and local health authorities, would receive only survey responses and the postal code.

These organizations have agreed to keep the data confidential and use it only for statistical purposes.

To reduce the number of questions in this questionnaire, Statistics Canada will use information from your tax forms submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency. With your consent Statistics Canada will share this information from your tax forms with provincial ministries of health, the Institut de la Statistique du Québec, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. These organizations have agreed to keep the information confidential and to use it only for statistical and research purposes.

Record linkage

To enhance the data from this survey and reduce response burden, Statistics Canada will combine the information you provide with data from the tax data of all members of your household. Statistics Canada and your provincial ministry of health, or the Institut de la statistique du Québec for Quebec respondents, may also combine the information you provide with other surveys or administrative data sources. Statistics Canada may also combine the information you provide with data from other surveys or administrative sources.

Topics covered in the survey

The survey asks questions about

  • access to and use of primary health care and specialist care
  • care coordination
  • barriers to care
  • prescription medications
  • out-of-pocket expenses.

Published data

Statistics Canada publishes the results of its surveys in many formats. To find all the documents related to this survey, follow the links below and type the name of the survey in the search engine located at the left of your screen to filter the results.

Data: You will find tables, profiles of a community or region, thematic maps, public use microdata files, and data visualization tools.

Analysis: You will have direct access to Stats in brief (e.g., releases from The Daily, fact sheets), articles and reports, and journals and periodicals.

Resources for respondents

For more information about this survey