In a stark revelation, a recent report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) indicates that one in ten patients in Canada’s emergency departments (ED) faced wait times exceeding 14 hours for care during the 2024-2025 period. The findings shed light on a healthcare system under severe strain, with patients requiring hospital admission often enduring waits more than three times as long. This situation calls for urgent attention to the multifaceted challenges plaguing the nation’s healthcare services.
Escalating Wait Times and Overcrowding
The CIHI report, released on Thursday, illustrates a troubling trend: a staggering 1.5 million emergency patients, or 10 per cent, experienced prolonged waits, marking a 28 per cent increase compared to data from 2018-2019. During the same time frame, approximately 12 per cent of ED visits resulted in hospital admissions, with one in ten of those patients spending over two days in emergency care—an alarming 33 per cent rise from previous years. This surge is linked to an influx of older, more medically complex individuals seeking care.
Dr. Michael Herman, an emergency physician based in Ottawa, voiced concerns about the implications of these findings. He noted that the data corroborates the experiences of healthcare professionals on the front lines, revealing a sicker patient demographic with diminished access to community support services. “What it’s showing us is that we have a sicker population,” Dr. Herman stated. “More people are coming to us, they have less access to supports in the community, and they’re staying in our emergency departments longer.”
Systemic Pressures and Funding Shortfalls
The ongoing overcrowding crisis in emergency departments is a symptom of broader systemic issues within Canada’s healthcare framework. Insufficient funding and staffing shortages have compounded these challenges, particularly evident during the summer months when temporary closures of rural emergency departments become more frequent as healthcare workers take necessary leave.
Earlier this year, the situation escalated to a critical point in Alberta, prompting physicians and the provincial New Democratic Party to call for a formal emergency declaration following the tragic death of Prashant Sreekumar. The 44-year-old succumbed to cardiac arrest after enduring an eight-hour wait at an Edmonton ED, drawing attention to the potentially life-threatening consequences of emergency department overcrowding.
The CIHI report indicates that 0.1 per cent of patients died while in emergency care, and 7.7 per cent left without seeing a physician. During 2024-2025, a total of 16.1 million ED visits were recorded, representing about 89 per cent of all visits across Canada. Significantly, two-thirds of these visits were triaged as high-acuity, underscoring the critical nature of many patients’ conditions.
Vulnerable Populations at Greater Risk
The report highlights that specific demographic groups—children under 10, adults over 55, and individuals from low-income neighbourhoods—frequently utilise emergency services. Alarmingly, older patients have been found to wait longer than their younger counterparts for inpatient beds, often due to complex health conditions. Dr. Herman described this trend as “horrifying,” stressing that the implications are dire. Research from the UK indicates that for every 82 patients held in an ED for six to eight hours, one additional death occurs. “This isn’t just an inconvenience; this is lethal,” he asserted.
Moreover, those admitted through emergency departments are typically discharged within a median of four days, yet 8 per cent are classified as alternative level of care (ALC) patients. These individuals, who no longer require hospital care, remain in beds until they can be transferred to more suitable care settings. The median stay for ALC patients extends to 24 days, further constraining bed availability for patients needing immediate admission from the ED.
Cheryl Chui, CIHI’s director of health system analytics, emphasised that addressing wait times in emergency departments necessitates a comprehensive approach. “If you just focus on ED wait times, then that tends to be where people sort of target the solution,” she explained. “But what we’re trying to illustrate with this report is that, actually, everything is interconnected.”
Why it Matters
The findings of the CIHI report serve as a clarion call for a reevaluation of Canada’s healthcare priorities. The alarming wait times in emergency departments are not merely statistics; they reflect the urgent need for systemic reform. As the population ages and healthcare demands grow, the inadequacies in primary and long-term care services become increasingly apparent. If left unaddressed, these issues will not only hinder patient care but could also lead to preventable deaths. It is imperative for policymakers to recognise that improving emergency care requires a holistic approach to health services, ensuring that all Canadians receive timely and effective care when they need it most.
