About 80 per cent of Canadians say they're satisfied with their level of access to the health care system.

Statistics Canada reported Monday that most of those who were not happy were upset about the length of time it took to see a specialist, or to have non-emergency surgery.

It's the first time Statistics Canada has taken a national snapshot of how Canadians feel about the health care system.

According to the report more than 88 per cent of Canadians have a regular family physician who, in most cases, is their first point of contact for routine health care.

The average waiting time to see a specialist or have non-urgent surgery is roughly one month.

However, 20 per cent of respondents to the telephone survey said they had to wait up to three times longer and that the extra wait caused added stress, anxiety and pain.

Henry Haddad of the Canadian Medical Association says the results show Ottawa needs to come up with common, national standards of care.

The report is the first national survey to look at how Canadians feel about accessing health care. The agency says that means it can't draw any conclusions about whether Canadians are more or less satisfied now than they were before.