As someone living in Canada I will freely admit that it can be extremely difficult to book a complex surgery, especially if the condition is not considered life

As someone living in Canada I will freely admit that it can be extremely difficult to book a complex surgery, especially if the condition is not considered life threatening - but for common medical care it's trivial to just show up at a walk-in and get treatment for free - ditto for lab tests. Regular checkups are free and usually prescheduled though not everyone has a stable GP (and it can be a bit difficult to find a GP up here - there are ways to forcefully claim a GP though).