Road to recovery: Cancer in the COVID-19 era

Impacts on cancer diagnosis and care

Data on the pandemic’s health and health-care impacts is limited for populations that have been underserved including people with lower incomes, those living in rural or remote communities, people who belong to racial/ethnic minorities, and those with limited English proficiency. The available data does show that these communities face inequities in cancer diagnosis and care during the pandemic:

• In Ontario, people living in lower income neighbourhoods are more likely to experience diagnostic delays following an abnormal breast or colorectal cancer screening test.¹
• 1 in 5 people who live in rural or remote communities report delays in receiving a cancer diagnosis.²
• 1 in 6 people who live in rural or remote communities report delays between cancer diagnosis and starting treatment.²
• The use of virtual care has substantially increased since the onset of the pandemic, but lower income individuals are less likely to access virtual care than those with higher incomes.³