Background: More than one in five Canadians (6.5 million people) do not have a family doctor or nurse practitioner they see regularly. Access gaps are greater among immigrants and marginalized populations, who face systemic, cultural, and language barriers to care. Objectives: To evaluate access to primary care provider and dentist among residents of a neighborhood with a high proportion of visible minorities in Hamilton, ON. Methods: Between 2022 and 2024, adults living in Riverdale, a neighbourhood in the city of Hamilton, Ontario in which 51% families were born outside the country, were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey. Determinants of access to these services were identified using multivariable logistic regression modelling. Results. 930 people completed the survey. Of these, 48% were not born in Canada. The median age of participants was 39 years, with a median time living in Canada of 28 years. Of those who responded, 79.6% had a primary care provider; and 57.1% had a dentist. In multivariable models, living in Canada < 5 years (OR = 0.10; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.20), male sex (OR= 0.56; 95%CI: 0.38, 0.82) and being unmarried (OR = 0.41; 95% CI: 0.27, 0.64) were associated with lower odds of having a primary care provider. Living in Canada for < 5 years (OR = 0.20; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.35), male sex (OR =0.74; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.99), and employment while living below the poverty line (OR=0.50; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.90) were linked to lower access to dental care. Conclusion: In a neighborhood with high proportion of visible minority newcomers in Hamilton, ON, 20% of those surveyed did not have access to a primary care provider, and 43% did not have access to a dentist. Access to primary care was lowest amongst newcomers (within 5 years), men, and those who are unmarried.
Ramos-Acevedo et al. (Fri,) studied this question.