“Collectively, Canadian ERs closed their doors for at least 1.14 million hours since 2019 – the equivalent of 47,500 days. . . Since 2019, at least 34 per cent of Canadian ERs had an unplanned, short-term closure or a planned, long-lasting reduction in hours, usually shutting down on nights or weekends or both,” noted Kelly Grant, Tu Thanh Ha and Yang Sun for The Globe and Mail, July 4, 2025. Listen to the podcast here.
An ER is the emergency department of a health care centre, often in a hospital. ERs are open 24/7 and treat severe illnesses and life-threatening injuries. Once admitted, a triage nurse will often assess you and determine the next course of action. Expect busy emergency rooms and potentially long wait times, so prepare accordingly.
Compared to nine of its global peers, Canada recently ranked last in primary care access Opens in a new window, with only 86% of adults having a regular doctor or care facility — Germany, the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands all performed better, with more than 95% of the population reporting access to regular primary care.
It’s disheartening to hear stories of colleagues enduring lengthy waits in emergency departments while experiencing chest pain and atrial fibrillation, children bleeding on the roadside as they wait for an ambulance for hours and people stuck at home without the ability to access a family doctor.
Canadians have historically been braggarts about our once world-class health-care system. Not these days. Our health care has morphed from something we could collectively gloat over to something we must all fret over.
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