At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Canadians were told to stay at home, and many people put other health issues on hold as hospitals worked to reduce the spread of the virus. Employers began offering virtual care as an extended health care benefit to their employees, to help them get care they needed. At the time, virtual care technology and infrastructure was limited and the private sector stepped in to fill the gap. Virtual care became an important way for people to get access to the health care they needed. 

I witnessed this rapid shift firsthand as the founder of the virtual health care platform Maple. I had launched Maple five years earlier after ten years working as an emergency room physician. When I worked in the ER, I often saw patients wait more than four hours to see me for issues that didn’t require a physical exam. Many of them were losing wages, spending money on hospital parking, and picking up the flu from their neighbour in the waiting room–when we easily could have treated them at their homes or places of work.

By May 2020, our client base and revenue had tripled as employers turned to us to provide their teams with virtual care. Through Maple’s platform, patients can connect with health practitioners any time of the day to ask medical questions online and quickly receive a diagnosis or prescription. Many of our users have told us that for the first time in their lives, our platform fostered a sense of health empowerment within their families. As of last year, we had been officially integrated into three public health systems–Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.

According to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, over 10 million Canadians now benefit from workplace-provided virtual care. Virtual care has helped  countless Canadians avoid overcrowded ERs and clinics for issues that can be managed remotely, such as common infections, skin conditions, the flu and more. By allowing patients to speak to a primary care provider any time, Maple estimates its services and others like it have saved hundreds of thousands of trips to the ER or walk-in clinics, giving Canadians more control over their health care needs. 

The Canadian Medical Association’s (CMA) recent recommendation to restrict private health care would, if enacted, limit what virtual health care organizations can offer as part of extended health care plans. Federal Health Minister Mark Holland has also announced plans to limit out-of-pocket primary care fees, including those for workplace-funded virtual care. 

These policy recommendations come at a time when Canada most needs innovation and solutions that ease the strain on our health care system. A new survey of 1,500 Angus Reid Forum members conducted by Maple found that 50 percent of Canadians are delaying care for physical and mental health concerns due to a lack of access. 

Maintaining access to innovative virtual care benefits is essential not only to the sustainability of our health care system but also to ensuring Canada’s economy remains competitive and resilient. The most immediate impact of virtual care on Canada’s economy has been productivity and wage security. Canada’s “free” health care system has hidden costs: a study from the Fraser Institute found that in 2023, wait times for non-emergency treatment cost Canadians $3.5 billion in lost wages while waiting for care. 

Additionally, virtual care supports the innovation component of our economy. Over the past decade, significant investments have been made in Canadian virtual care technology. These investments, including Maple’s funding round in 2020, have advanced technology platforms that could make Canada a global leader in this space. The business model driving this success requires customers to pay for this technology. Yet the proposed government ban devalues the technology our innovators have built, depriving tech companies of the ability to charge for what they have created, threatening ultimately to drive away investment, jobs and research and development. 

Finally, the impact of employer-funded virtual care on public finances cannot be overstated. According to the CMA’s own data, health care already consumes 30 to 40 percent of provincial budgets, a number steadily increasing as our population ages. The future solvency of our governments depends on an openness to new solutions, including a sharing of the burden with the private sector. 

Related: UHN Foundation CEO Julie Quenneville on Changemaking in the Healthcare Sector

What will happen to Canada’s budgets when, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, millions of virtual care appointments, now covered by the private sector as part of workplace benefits, are suddenly offloaded onto provincial and territorial governments? 

The reality is clear: employer-funded virtual care is not just critical to our health care system, it strengthens Canada’s productivity, innovation, and fiscal framework. Virtual care is the answer to some of Canada’s most pressing health care challenges and an economic boon—not the problem. Employer-funded virtual care must remain, and it is incumbent upon institutions like our government and the CMA to use their influence to ensure it remains as far-reaching as possible.