Your trip to the emergency department is taking longer every year: report

Emergency room visits in Canada are taking longer than Canadians every year, according to a new report.

According to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, emergency room visits across Canada are taking an average of 20 to 30 percent longer than they were three years ago. The new report of this institute about visiting the emergency room and the duration of hospitalization shows that the time between admission and discharge has increased in every province.

"Length of stay" measures the time interval between the time of triage or the time of registration (whichever is earlier) and the time the patient leaves the emergency department. The data is disaggregated by severity of illness – more "urgent" visits fall into categories one, two or three on the Canadian Triage and Urgency Level System. "Less important" visits fall into categories four or five.

Between April 2023 and March 2024, the average length of stay across Canada for more urgent cases was 4.1 hours, meaning 50% of visits lasted 4.1 hours or less. This figure has increased by 21% compared to 2021-2020, which was 3.4 hours.

For less serious cases, the average length of stay last year was 2.7 hours, 35 percent longer than the two hours in 2021-2021. For those admitted to hospital, the average length of stay increased from 10.7 to 15.7 hours – although the number of admissions in 2023-2024 was down from 16.5 hours the previous year.

throughout the provinces

The total number of visits to the emergency room last year increased by 350,000 cases and reached 15.5 million cases. This figure is also about 1.5 million visits more than two years ago. In addition, in all provinces for which data are available, the duration of visits to the emergency room has also increased.

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