Last reviewed and updated: September 2026

For Canadians living with advanced knee arthritis, the time spent waiting for surgery can become almost as important as the procedure itself. Knee replacement wait times in Canada vary considerably depending on the province, hospital, surgeon, clinical priority and available surgical capacity.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) continues to track knee replacement wait times using a standardized national methodology. Its latest knee replacement indicators were updated in June 2026 and include data through 2025.

What Is Canada's Benchmark for Knee Replacement Surgery?

The pan-Canadian benchmark for a planned total knee replacement is:

According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the benchmark measures the percentage of patients receiving a planned total knee replacement within 182 days of being ready for treatment.

The related CIHI knee replacement percentile indicator measures the period between the date the patient and the appropriate physician agree to proceed with knee replacement, when the patient is ready to receive it, and the date of surgery.

This is different from measuring the entire journey from the patient's original referral.

Does the 26-Week Wait Include the Time to See an Orthopedic Surgeon?

No.

A patient may already have spent considerable time:

• seeing a family physician or other primary care provider;
• obtaining X-rays or other diagnostic imaging;
• being referred to an orthopedic surgeon;
• waiting for the orthopedic consultation;
• trying physiotherapy, injections, medication or other non-surgical treatment;
• completing further testing or medical optimization.

Only after the patient and treating physician have agreed to proceed with knee replacement and the patient is considered ready for treatment does the CIHI surgical wait-time measurement begin.

This is why studies or reports that measure referral-to-treatment should not be directly compared with CIHI's ready-to-treat-to-surgery data.

How Are Knee Replacement Wait Times Measured?

CIHI commonly reports several measures.

Median or 50th percentile: Half of patients received surgery within this amount of time, while half waited longer.

90th percentile: 90% of patients received surgery within this amount of time, while approximately 1 patient in 10 waited longer.

Percentage within benchmark: The percentage of patients who received their planned knee replacement within 182 days.

Looking at both the median and the 90th percentile is useful because a reasonable median can exist alongside much longer waits for some patients.

Knee Replacement Wait Times Across Canada

The latest CIHI data provides a standardized way to compare publicly funded knee replacement waits nationally and provincially. CIHI's comparable annual reporting uses procedures performed between April and September.

Individual provinces also publish more current information, often monthly or quarterly. These provincial reports may use different reporting periods, so they should not always be compared directly with one another.

The following examples show just how much knee replacement wait times can vary.

Important: These examples come from current provincial reporting systems with different reporting periods. They illustrate variation but should not be interpreted as a perfectly standardized ranking of provinces.

For the most consistent Canada-wide comparison, consult CIHI's Explore Wait Times for Priority Procedures Across Canada tool.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Ontario

Ontario collects knee replacement wait-time information across hospitals and surgical programs.

An individual patient's wait can differ significantly according to hospital, surgeon, location and clinical priority.

Ontario's wait-time data measures the period between a decision to treat and the treatment itself, which is broadly consistent with the surgical portion of the CIHI methodology.

Current reporting information can be accessed through Ontario Health's wait-time reporting resources.

Patients should not assume that an Ontario-wide number represents the expected wait for their particular hospital or orthopedic surgeon.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in British Columbia

British Columbia publishes detailed surgical wait information by procedure, health authority, hospital and specialist.

For the three-month period ending May 31, 2026, provincial data for knee replacement showed:

• 9,423 patients waiting at the end of the reporting period;
• median completed-case wait: 21.9 weeks;
• 90th-percentile wait: 56.9 weeks.

The differences between individual hospitals and surgeons can be substantial.

Patients can review current results through the British Columbia Surgery Wait Times system.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Alberta

Knee replacement waits in Alberta vary by region, facility, surgeon and clinical priority.

CIHI includes Alberta in its standardized national knee replacement reporting, which is preferable when comparing Alberta with other provinces because the same broad methodology is applied.

Patients should also ask whether the estimate they receive represents the wait for an orthopedic consultation or the surgical wait after a decision to proceed has already been made.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan publicly reports surgical performance and wait-time information.

As in other provinces, a patient may experience a significantly different wait depending on where surgery is performed and which surgical list they are placed on.

Current provincial information is available from the Government of Saskatchewan Surgical Performance and Wait Times page.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Manitoba

Manitoba Health reported a provincial median knee replacement wait of approximately 23 weeks in June 2026.

The facility-level differences were striking:

• Selkirk Regional Health Centre: approximately 10 weeks;
• Boundary Trails Health Centre: approximately 13 weeks;
• Winnipeg facilities: approximately 26 weeks;
• Brandon Regional Health Centre: approximately 63 weeks.

This is a good example of why a province-wide median cannot predict an individual patient's wait.

Current information is available from Manitoba Health's Knee Replacement Wait Time Information.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Quebec

Quebec patients can also experience substantial variation in orthopedic surgical waits depending on the region, institution and surgeon.

The province reports surgical waiting-list information through its health-system performance reporting, while CIHI provides standardized knee replacement data that can be compared with other provinces.

For Quebec patients, it is important to distinguish between:

• the wait for a first orthopedic consultation;
• the period before a decision is made to operate;
• the surgical wait after the patient is considered ready for treatment.

Current Quebec health-system information is available from the Gouvernement du Québec's health-system performance reporting.

Patients facing a prolonged wait may also wish to learn about private total knee replacement surgery in Montreal.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in New Brunswick

New Brunswick provides detailed quarterly reporting through its Surgical Access Registry.

For October through December 2025:

• median knee replacement wait: 187 days;
• 52% of procedures were completed within the 182-day national benchmark;
• 684 knee replacements were completed;
• 1,743 knee replacement surgeries were waiting as of December 31, 2025.

New Brunswick also reported that 109 knee replacement cases had been waiting for more than one year as of December 31, 2025.

Current information is available from the New Brunswick Health Council's Access to Surgery data.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia reports the wait for an orthopedic consultation separately from the subsequent wait for knee replacement surgery.

For April through June 2026:

• provincial median orthopedic consultation wait: 260 days;
• provincial median knee replacement surgical wait: 122 days;
• 90th-percentile surgical wait: 294 days.

There were substantial differences between hospitals. For example, median surgical waits ranged from approximately 64 days at Aberdeen Hospital to 265 days at the QEII Health Sciences Centre during the reported period.

This illustrates why the surgical wait alone does not always represent the patient's entire journey.

Current data is available through Nova Scotia Knee Replacement Wait Time Information.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island has historically reported some of the longer knee replacement waits in Canada.

Because wait-time figures can change substantially from one reporting period to another, patients should use the latest Health PEI reporting rather than relying on older province rankings or figures quoted elsewhere online.

Current surgical wait-time information is available from Health PEI's Surgery Wait Times page.

Knee Replacement Wait Times in Newfoundland and Labrador

Newfoundland and Labrador has also experienced long knee replacement waits in some health zones.

Provincial reporting demonstrates substantial regional variation, meaning a patient in one part of the province may have a very different experience from someone elsewhere.

The province has implemented a specific strategy aimed at reducing hip and knee replacement wait times and improving access within the national benchmark.

Current information and the provincial strategy can be reviewed through Newfoundland and Labrador's Provincial Wait Times Reduction Strategies.

Why Do Knee Replacement Wait Times Vary So Much?

There is no single explanation for long knee replacement waits.

CIHI identifies several factors that may influence wait times, including:

• availability of surgical resources;
• operating-room capacity;
• procedure volumes;
• health workforce availability;
• efficiency at individual facilities;
• patient condition and clinical priority;
• complexity of treatment;
• patient availability or choice;
• follow-up care requirements;
• seasonal changes in system demand.

The number of patients waiting and the number of procedures a hospital can perform also change over time.

What Can Happen While You Wait for Knee Replacement?

Waiting does not affect every patient in the same way.

However, research suggests that people waiting for hip or knee replacement can experience deterioration in physical function and health-related quality of life during the waiting period.

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis involving almost 90,000 patients found an association between longer presurgical waits and deterioration in joint-related function and health-related quality of life.

The same analysis did not establish a clear relationship between longer waiting time and postoperative function or quality of life.

This distinction is important. We have good evidence that patients may deteriorate while waiting, but it would be too strong to claim that every delay necessarily results in a worse surgical outcome.

The study is available through PubMed Central: The Functional and Psychological Impact of Delayed Hip and Knee Arthroplasty.

For a more detailed discussion, read how prolonged waits for hip and knee replacement can affect patients.

What Can You Do if Your Knee Replacement Wait Is Too Long?

Ask exactly what your quoted wait represents

Find out whether the estimate refers to:

• referral to orthopedic consultation;
• decision-to-treat to surgery;
• the entire treatment pathway.

Ask about other surgeons or facilities

Depending on your province and referral system, another hospital or orthopedic surgeon may have a different wait.

Ask about cancellation opportunities

Patients with flexible schedules may be able to accept an earlier date when another patient cancels.

Keep your medical team informed

If your symptoms or functional limitations change significantly while you are waiting, contact your physician or surgical team.

Continue appropriate non-surgical management

Depending on the individual patient, management while waiting may include:

• physiotherapy or appropriate exercise;
• weight management when indicated;
• medication;
• injections in selected cases;
• walking aids;
• management of other medical conditions before surgery.

Your treating physician can advise which measures are appropriate for you.

Consider another orthopedic opinion

A second opinion can help confirm whether a total knee replacement is appropriate and clarify other available treatment pathways.

Private Knee Replacement Surgery in Canada

Some Canadians facing prolonged public-system waits choose to investigate private knee replacement surgery.

Dr. John Antoniou offers private total knee replacement surgery in Montreal for appropriately selected patients from Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.

Private treatment still requires a proper orthopedic assessment.

The decision to proceed with knee replacement should take into account:

• the diagnosis;
• degree of arthritis or joint damage;
• severity of pain;
• mobility and daily function;
• X-rays and other imaging;
• previous non-surgical treatment;
• overall medical health;
• patient goals and expectations.

How Much Does Private Knee Replacement Cost?

Private knee replacement pricing varies between providers according to the surgeon, surgical facility, implant, complexity and services included.

A dedicated Canadian private knee replacement cost guide will provide a more detailed comparison of pricing, inclusions and considerations for patients travelling from other provinces.

How Quickly Can Private Knee Replacement Be Scheduled?

Private surgery can provide a different scheduling pathway than the public system, but there is no single timeline that applies to every patient.

Scheduling depends on:

• consultation availability;
• review of X-rays and other imaging;
• medical suitability for knee replacement;
• additional testing when required;
• preoperative medical clearance;
• surgeon availability;
• surgical-centre availability.

Current availability can be discussed once the patient's case has been reviewed.

Frequently Asked Questions About Knee Replacement Wait Times in Canada

What is Canada's benchmark for knee replacement surgery?

The pan-Canadian benchmark for planned total knee replacement surgery is 26 weeks, or 182 days, from the date the patient is ready to be treated.

Does the 182-day benchmark include the wait to see a surgeon?

No. It generally begins after the patient and appropriate physician have agreed to proceed with knee replacement and the patient is considered ready for treatment.

How long is the wait for knee replacement in Canada?

There is no single wait time that applies across Canada. Waits vary considerably by province, region, hospital and surgeon. Current provincial examples range from medians of around four months in some jurisdictions to substantially longer waits at certain facilities.

Why is my wait longer than the provincial median?

A median describes a group of completed surgeries, not an individual prediction. Your wait may be affected by your hospital, surgeon, region, clinical priority, medical condition, surgical capacity and other factors.

Which province has the shortest knee replacement wait?

It is difficult to name one province reliably because provincial data is updated at different times and wait times can vary dramatically within a province. For standardized comparisons, CIHI's national wait-time data is the most appropriate source.

Can I switch hospitals or surgeons to reduce my wait?

This depends on the referral system in your province. Patients can ask their referring physician or orthopedic office whether another surgeon or facility has a shorter wait and whether changing providers is possible.

Can Canadians have private knee replacement surgery?

Private orthopedic care options exist in Canada, although the regulatory, coverage and reimbursement framework varies by province.

Patients considering private treatment should confirm any potential public or private insurance coverage before making financial arrangements.

Can I travel to Montreal for private knee replacement?

Yes. Patients from other Canadian provinces may be evaluated for private knee replacement surgery in Montreal.

A consultation is required to determine whether knee replacement is appropriate and to discuss medical clearance, travel, recovery and postoperative rehabilitation.

How much does private knee replacement with Dr. Antoniou cost?

Private total knee replacement with Dr. Antoniou currently starts at $19,800 CAD. The final treatment plan should be confirmed after the patient's medical information and imaging have been reviewed.

Does waiting longer mean my eventual knee replacement will have a worse outcome?

Not necessarily.

Evidence shows that joint function and quality of life can deteriorate while patients wait. However, a large 2024 systematic review did not establish a clear overall relationship between longer wait duration and postoperative joint function or quality of life.