Maybe you don’t need an appointment to see a GP in Canada? I’m from Austria and GPs are walk-in for most things here, maybe they’re the same. But yeah, the graph is pretty useless without explaining what kind of appointments and what kind of surgeries.
To your last point: it could be, eg, your orthopedist (who isn’t a surgeon) referring you to an orthopedic surgeon, no GP required in that case. But that just makes it even more complicated, because in some countries, you need a GP referral to any specialist. I think sometimes even every time you see the specialist.
Maybe you don’t need an appointment to see a GP in Canada? I’m from Austria and GPs are walk-in for most things here, maybe they’re the same. But yeah, the graph is pretty useless without explaining what kind of appointments and what kind of surgeries.
To your last point: it could be, eg, your orthopedist (who isn’t a surgeon) referring you to an orthopedic surgeon, no GP required in that case. But that just makes it even more complicated, because in some countries, you need a GP referral to any specialist. I think sometimes even every time you see the specialist.