The cost of waiting
The wait is costing you more than time.
While you wait a year or more for a new hip or knee, strength, mobility and independence quietly slip away. See what the delay really costs — and how to skip it.
How long is the wait?
A side-by-side look at the national wait-time benchmark, what Albertans typically experience, the longest waits on record, and what a private pathway looks like.
Figures are illustrative ranges based on publicly reported wait-time data. Individual experiences vary by region, urgency, and surgeon.
Cost-of-Waiting Calculator
What does a long wait actually cost?
Move the slider to see how published averages translate into strength, quality of life, and time.
Quadriceps strength possibly lost
Chance quality of life declines
Active months affected
These figures are published-average illustrations, not personal predictions. They're drawn from group-level research on disuse-related muscle loss and quality-of-life decline. Your own experience depends on age, fitness, the joint involved, and many other factors. Always discuss your specific situation with your physician.
Outside Alberta? Patients from across Canada travel here to skip a year-plus waitlist at home. See how it works for out-of-province patients →
The cost isn't just physical.
The body changes during a long wait. So does the rest of life around it.
Physical cost
What the body loses
- • Quadriceps and gluteal strength steadily decline.
- • Cartilage damage and bone changes can progress.
- • Sleep is interrupted by night pain.
- • Reliance on pain medication often grows.
- • Other joints — the opposite hip, the lower back — start to compensate.
Human cost
What life loses
- • Missed walks, trips, and time with grandchildren.
- • Hobbies set aside — golf, gardening, hiking, dancing.
- • Independence at home gradually narrowing.
- • Mood, confidence, and social life affected.
- • A year, then another, quietly slipping by.