We found significant socioeconomic differences in the provision and perceptions of care among patients with AMI in Canada. Despite receiving more intensive specialty cardiac services, patients in higher socioeconomic strata were more dissatisfied with access to and quality of care and much more willing to pay out-of-pocket for expedited services or for a wider array of treatment options. In the latter respect, we found that one-quarter of all AMI survivors were willing to pay out-of-pocket for either expedited services or for a wider array of treatment options, with proportions ranging from just over 15% for persons with household incomes of less than $30 000 annually to more than 30% for those with household incomes of $60 000 and above. While overall satisfaction with care was high across all subgroups, those with the highest SES were more likely to be dissatisfied than patients of lower SES.