Recent findings reveal that one in ten patients in Canadian emergency departments endured waits exceeding 14 hours for care, with those needing hospital admission facing delays up to three times longer. This stark data, released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) on Thursday, covers the period extending into 2025 and illustrates the pressing issue of overcrowding that plagues the nation’s healthcare system.
A Worsening Situation
According to the CIHI report, approximately 1.5 million patients—equivalent to ten per cent of emergency department visitors—waited more than 14 hours in 2024-25. This statistic represents a staggering 28 per cent increase from the 2018-19 data. The report highlights a troubling trend: the challenges within emergency care are symptomatic of broader systemic issues, including inadequate access to primary and long-term care, a shortage of hospital beds, and an increasingly complex patient demographic.
An alarming 12 per cent of emergency visits from April 2024 to March 2025 resulted in hospital admissions. Of these admissions, a significant one in ten patients spent over two days in emergency care, regardless of the severity of their condition—this marks a 33 per cent rise from previous years. Dr. Michael Herman, an emergency physician based in Ottawa, notes that these figures corroborate the experiences of healthcare professionals grappling with rising pressures in emergency departments.
“What it’s showing us is that we have a sicker population,” Dr. Herman explained. “More people are coming to us, they have less access to supports in the community, and they’re staying in our emergency departments longer.”
The Human Cost of Overcrowding
The issue of emergency department overcrowding has been a longstanding concern for medical professionals, exacerbated by chronic underfunding and staffing shortages within hospitals. The situation tends to worsen during the summer months, when temporary closures of emergency departments in rural areas are anticipated as healthcare workers take necessary breaks.
Earlier this year, Alberta’s physicians, alongside the provincial New Democratic Party, urged the government to declare a formal emergency regarding emergency department overcrowding. This call to action followed the tragic death of 44-year-old Prashant Sreekumar, who suffered a cardiac arrest after waiting eight hours for care at an Edmonton emergency room.
The CIHI report also highlighted that, in the 2024-25 fiscal year, 0.1 per cent of patients who sought emergency care died, while 7.7 per cent left without being seen by a physician. The total number of emergency visits recorded was around 16.1 million, accounting for about 89 per cent of all such visits nationwide. Notably, two-thirds of these visits were triaged as high-acuity, signalling life-threatening conditions requiring immediate medical evaluation.
Disproportionate Impact on Vulnerable Groups
The report reveals a stark disparity in wait times, particularly for older patients. Dr. Herman expressed concern over a “horrifying” trend: elderly individuals are increasingly waiting longer than younger patients for inpatient beds. Often grappling with multiple health issues or social isolation, these patients must wait for suitable placements in hospitals or specialised units.
Research indicates that patients over 75 face heightened mortality risks if they spend even one night in an emergency department. Dr. Herman referenced a 2022 study from the United Kingdom, which concluded that for every 82 patients who waited six to eight hours for an inpatient bed, one additional patient died. “This isn’t just an inconvenience; this is lethal,” he stated.
Despite having ample time to prepare for the implications of an aging population, Canada has fallen short in enhancing primary, long-term, and community care services. “When those roads are blocked, the only road that people have is to come to the emergency department,” Dr. Herman added.
The Role of Alternative Level of Care Patients
Data from the CIHI report indicate that patients admitted through emergency departments typically spend a median of four days in hospital care. However, eight per cent of these individuals were classified as alternative level of care (ALC) patients—those who no longer require acute hospital treatment but occupy beds while awaiting transfers to more appropriate care settings. ALC patients had an average hospital stay of 24 days, further limiting availability for those needing urgent admission from the emergency department.
Cheryl Chui, CIHI’s director of health system analytics, emphasised that addressing emergency department wait times necessitates a comprehensive approach to reforming the healthcare system as a whole. “If you just focus on ED wait times, then that tends to be where people sort of target the solution. But what we’re trying to illustrate with this report is that, actually, everything is interconnected,” she noted.
Why it Matters
The findings from the CIHI’s report underscore a critical juncture for Canada’s healthcare system. With emergency departments on the brink of collapse, the implications for public health are dire. As patients wait longer and more individuals are forced into emergency care due to inadequate community services, the question becomes clear: how can the system adapt to ensure timely and effective care for all Canadians? Addressing these interconnected issues will be essential in safeguarding the health and well-being of the population, particularly the most vulnerable among us.
