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2w ago

ER Wait Times Soar Across Canadian Provinces, Prompting Capacity Expansions

Officials are boosting hospital bed counts along with launching new primary care networks to counter emergency department backlogs.

Treatment rooms in the emergency department at Peter Lougheed hospital are pictured in, Calgary, Alta., Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.
Sign for the St. Boniface Hospital Emergency Department.
Eagle Ridge Hospital emergency room entrance.
An Alberta Health Services building on 107 Street in Downtown Edmonton on Feb. 27, 2025.

Overview

  • Montreal Economic Institute data show that in 2024 the median ER stay reached four hours and 13 minutes in British Columbia, three hours and 58 minutes in Alberta and four hours in Manitoba, all up substantially over the past five years.
  • Wait times range from a low of two hours and 45 minutes in Newfoundland and Labrador to a high of five hours and 23 minutes in Quebec.
  • Within Manitoba, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority hospitals recorded a median ER stay of seven hours and 24 minutes and some Winnipeg sites topped ten hours.
  • Provincial governments are adding hospital beds, expanding assisted living capacity and opening urgent care centres alongside new primary care clinics to ease ER demand.
  • Health experts recommend adopting international care models such as France’s Immediate Medical Care Centres to divert non-urgent cases from hospital emergency departments.