A snapshot of wait times at hospital emergency departments across Canada
Reports of high average wait times at hospital emergency rooms across the country were punctuated by CTV News medical correspondent Avis Favaro's latest story focusing on the dire consequences long wait times at crowded ERs can have on patients.
In light of studies showing patients admitted to ERs are waiting longer to get into an acute care bed, CTVNews.ca has collected wait time data over a recent time period from a selection of hospitals in cities across Canada, to give you a snapshot of the wait times Canadians are dealing with.
Note: certain provinces that are not currently providing wait time data for their hospital ERs are not included.
Can't see the graphics below? Click here
British Columbia
The province has live data updated every five minutes for many of its hospitals. Its website lists estimated wait times and expected lengths of stay.
Below is a sample of wait times recorded over the past week at a selection of hospitals.
Alberta
Alberta has data updated every two minutes for emergency rooms and urgent care in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer.
Below is a sample of recent emergency wait times.
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan has a website for live emergency department wait times updated every 15 minutes, though the service has been temporarily unavailable.
Manitoba
Live emergency department wait times are available for four hospitals in Winnipeg.
Ontario
Ontario offers past monthly data of average wait times at more than 100 hospitals. The chart below depicts daily average times in the waiting room for the whole province and select hospitals for the month of June 2023.
Quebec
Quebec has data for 115 facilities that includes the current estimated waiting time for non-priority cases to see a doctor and the number of people waiting to see a doctor in the emergency room.
The chart below depicts daily average times in the waiting room for the whole province and select hospitals.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick has a website for emergency department wait times, though the system is currently not operating. The site has the following message:
“The estimated Emergency Department (ED) wait times for Horizon’s hospitals are currently unavailable to allow us to complete maintenance to make the estimated wait time information as accurate as possible. We hope to share the estimated ED wait times again by late summer.”
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia offers live wait times and wait time forecasts for 10 hospitals. Estimates are given in the form of a range of hours (e.g. 3:00 - 4:45). Markers on the chart below are the center of each range recorded.
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island has estimated wait times for four emergency departments, with varying estimates depending on level of urgency. Links to each hospital can be found here.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador has data on surgery wait times, but no information on emergency department wait times is available.
Nunavut
Wait times in Nunavut are not available, but the following map shows contact information for health facilities across the territory.
Northwest Territories
Wait times at emergency rooms in the Northwest Territories are not available, but the following link contains contact information for health facilities across N.W.T.
Yukon
Wait times at emergency rooms at Yukon hospitals are not available, but the following link contains contact information for emergency services in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake.
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