Nearly 300,000 Ontario ER patients left without care in 2024 due to long waits and rising demand.

Nearly 300,000 patients in Ontario left emergency rooms without receiving care in 2024, accounting for nearly 5% of the province’s six million ER visits, according to a Montreal Economic Institute study. While Ontario had the lowest walkout rate in Canada, the national average was 7.8%, with Prince Edward Island reporting over 14%. Many patients left with urgent but non-life-threatening conditions, raising safety concerns amid long wait times—averaging four hours—and growing demand due to an aging population and post-pandemic healthcare rebound. The government has invested $44 million to reduce wait times, train nurses, expand primary care, and connect every resident to a family doctor by 2029, helping cut ER visits by nearly 200,000 annually. Pharmacists now treat common conditions, but access to care remains a challenge.