Canada’s emergency departments are overwhelmed. Can patient redirection help?

By Stefan Dressen

Published on March 14, 2025

Across Canada, emergency departments are facing an unprecedented surge in patient volumes, stretching resources and increasing wait times. A major factor driving this congestion is the growing number of non-urgent visits—cases that could be effectively treated in primary care settings instead of the ER.

This issue has been well-documented. The latest 2025 data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) highlights the scale of the problem: one in seven emergency department visits in Canada are for conditions that could have been managed in a primary care setting. In total, this accounted for approximately 1.2 million ED visits last year, straining hospital resources and increasing wait times.

Compounding the issue, a 2024 CIHI report analysing data from the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (2013–2014) found that 40% of non-urgent ER visits take place during regular family physician office hours, suggesting that many patients are choosing emergency care despite the availability of primary care services.

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