The Manitoba government’s health-care investments have helped support more than 50,000 annual endoscopy procedures since 2023-24, while reducing the wait list by 85 per cent from its pandemic peak.
“When we took office, thousands of Manitobans were waiting far too long for procedures that can detect cancer and other serious illnesses because of the previous government’s cuts and mismanagement,” said Health, Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Uzoma Asagwara. “Thanks to the hard work of health-care workers across Manitoba and targeted investments to expand capacity, more Manitobans are getting the care they need sooner. These results show we’re moving in the right direction, but we know there’s more work ahead to keep reducing wait times and strengthening care for Manitobans.”
Since 2023-24, more than 50,000 endoscopies have been performed annually, the highest annual totals on record. As of July 2026, the number of patients on the wait list has fallen to 1,678 from a record wait-list backlog of 11,476 patients in July 2022. Median wait times have also fallen sharply since 2022. Patients needing urgent procedures are now seen in a median of eight days, while the median wait for a non-urgent procedure has dropped by more than five months, from 233 days to 69 days.
These improvements were supported by increased endoscopy capacity across the system, including additional procedures at Seven Oaks and St. Boniface hospitals, expanded services at Grace Hospital and Health Sciences Centre (HSC) Winnipeg, an additional procedure room in Selkirk and partnerships with Winnipeg and Manitoba clinics. Together, these initiatives delivered thousands of additional procedures, with Grace Hospital and HSC Winnipeg expansions each adding capacity for approximately 1,400 more procedures annually.
“Over the last three years, we have worked extremely hard to fix the very long endoscopy wait times left behind in 2022,” said Dr. Dana Moffatt, section head of gastroenterology and medical director of endoscopy. “That hard work and the co-operation from government are starting to pay off, with normalization of wait times to pre-pandemic levels, giving Manitoba some of the shortest wait times for endoscopy in Canada. We know this will result in lives saved, as cancers of the gastrointestinal tract are being detected, diagnosed and treated earlier.”
Expanding endoscopy capacity was a key part of Manitoba’s Lower Wait Times Strategy: Rebuilding Manitoba’s Emergency Room Care , released in May 2025. With more procedures available across the health-care system, patients get the care they need sooner instead of waiting in emergency departments, helping free up beds and reduce pressure on front-line staff.
