The 18-minute problem: time spent on administrative tasks adding up to hours of lost access to health care

Canada cannot recruit its way out of the primary-care crisis while clinicians continue losing capacity to fragmented technology and administrative work.

Health Minister Marjorie Michel holds a press conference in the West Block on Feb. 4, 2026, to announce the introduction of Bill S-5, Connected Care for Canadians Act. The bill's interoperability requirements should be the foundation, not the finish line of improved technology practices in clinical practices, writes Paulo Meneghel.The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Opinion

BY PAULO MENEGHEL

August 19, 2026

Canada’s primary-care crisis is usually described as a shortage of doctors.

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