The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted healthcare systems and reduced access to healthcare and preventive services. However, it remains unclear whether certain groups were disproportionately affected.

This study examines these issues with a focus on equity groups: women, visible minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, sexual minorities, immigrants, and individuals who did not complete secondary education. The study draw on data from the he Canadian Community Health Survey and the Canadian Income Survey,  supplemented with additional data sources. The empirical strategy is based on  quasi-experimental econometric methods.

Overall in Canada, the findings indicate that some minority groups were not affected differently by the pandemic but several others saw their access to healthcare deteriorate more than that of their majority-group counterparts: individuals who did not complete secondary education, persons with disabilities, certain racialized groups, and Indigenous peoples. The severity of public health restrictions tended to amplify these effects. In Quebec, the deterioration in access to healthcare was more pronounced among individuals without a secondary school diploma, recent immigrants, and allophone populations.

These findings highlight the need for targeted health policies tailored to the realities of the most vulnerable groups. The study also highlights the need to strengthen the collection of high-quality data on a wide range of indicators relating to access to healthcare and preventive services.