Distance to primary care and its association with health care use and quality of care in Ontario: a cross-sectional study
As Canada faces a primary care crisis, new research led by Upstream Lab scientist Dr. Archna Gupta shows that patients who have a family doctor may still face barriers to accessing healthcare, such as travelling long distances to see their doctor.
Dr. Gupta and colleagues looked at how the distance between patients and their family doctor affected access to primary care, emergency department use and cancer screening.
Their new study of nearly 10 million urban and suburban patients enrolled with a family doctor in Ontario as of March 2023 found:
- 12.7% of patients (more than 1.2 million people) lived farther than 30 km from their family physician
- These patients were more likely to visit the emergency department for non-urgent reasons in the past year
- They were less likely to have screening for colon cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer
This study is part of Upstream Lab’s research to understand the relationship between the distance between patients and primary care providers and quality of care.
Published in CMAJ
Media coverage
These patients have a family doctor, but they’re hours away. The hidden health-care struggle for thousands in Ontario (Toronto Star, online and on front page of print edition)
More than 1.2 million Ontarians travel 30 kilometres or more to see family doctor: study (CP24)
More than 1.2 million Ontarians travel 30 kilometres or more to see family doctor: study (CTV Toronto)
CTV News Toronto at Six for Monday, November 3, 2025 (35-minute mark)
