The Canadian healthcare system is facing a crisis, as evidenced by a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, approximately 1.5 million people spent more than 14 hours in emergency departments, with one in 10 patients waiting over 48 hours for hospital admission.
The report highlights the strain on emergency departments, which are often the first point of contact for patients who are struggling to access primary and community care. Half of ED patients waited just under two hours to be assessed by an ED physician, while 1 in 10 patients waited more than six hours.
The data also shows that ED visits are increasingly driven by patients who require immediate or urgent medical attention, with 66% of visits in 2024-25 meeting this criteria. This represents an increase of seven percentage points since 2018-19, or approximately 1.7 million additional visits.
Nearly one-third of ED visits involved patients with multiple medical conditions, requiring more complex assessments, testing, and care coordination. This not only puts a strain on emergency departments but also highlights the need for more comprehensive community care resources.
While most patients admitted to acute care through emergency departments were discharged within an average of four days, about 114,000 patients remained in hospital much longer because they required additional support. Among those waiting for placement in long-term care, half waited up to 44 days in hospital.
Experts warn that the current state of emergency departments is unsustainable. "We've optimized everything," said Dr. Paul Parks, an emergency medicine physician in Alberta. "We've taken all the elasticity out of the system, but the tap is still flowing. There's a crisis: insufficient connected community resources, and little continuing care and long-term care."
Medical wait times have fallen slightly in 2025, but remain at historic highs. The root causes of this crisis are complex and multifaceted, but experts agree that investing in community care and long-term care resources is essential to reducing wait times and improving patient outcomes.
