Ontario cuts cancer treatment wait times

One year after Ontario announced a policy to curb long cancer-treatment queues, the province released its first results. The Funding Accelerated for Specific Treatments (FAST) program began on Oct. 7, 2025, and has since moved ten new life-extending therapies into patients’ hands.

Data for 2026 show patients using FAST waited an average of 55 days, versus roughly 300 days for comparable cases outside the scheme in 2025. The gap represents a five-fold reduction in waiting time, a difference that can affect survival outcomes.

Under FAST, eligible medicines become available as soon as they receive Health Canada approval and a positive recommendation from Canada’s Drug Agency. Pricing negotiations, which normally take two to three years, continue in parallel rather than delaying patient access. The approach keeps safety and efficacy reviews intact.

If other jurisdictions adopt a similar parallel-negotiation model, they could see comparable cuts in delay without compromising drug assessments. The key will be aligning provincial budgets with the accelerated rollout to sustain the faster pace.

The first year’s performance bolsters arguments for making FAST a permanent fixture in Ontario’s health system and for extending the model beyond oncology to other high-impact medicines. Policymakers cite the data as evidence that speed and rigor can coexist.

Across Canada, patients in provinces and territories still wait up to four months longer for high-priority cancer drugs. This additional interval can be decisive for individuals battling aggressive disease, showing the difference between Ontario’s accelerated pathway and other parts of the country.