Quebec ERs are experiencing high volumes as summer vacation starts

Emergency rooms in Montreal and across Quebec are over crowded. (Daniel J. Rowe / CTV News)

Emergency rooms in many parts of the province, including the Montreal and Quebec City areas, are overcrowded.

Santé-Québec acknowledged high volumes of patients coming into the ER this week, adding that emergency room visits have reached between 9,060 and 9,160 per day, a volume comparable to that seen during the same period in 2025.

As of 10:30 Friday morning, some of the hospitals with high occupancy rates in the Montreal area include:

• Jewish General - 221 per cent
• Royal Victoria  -   197 per cent
• Lakeshore General -  177 per cent
• Cité-de-la-Santé Laval – 149 per cent
• Saint-Eustache  - 143 per cent
• Saint-Jerome  - 132 per cent
• CHUM -  124 per cent

Dr. Guillaume Lacombe, with the Association of Emergency Medicine Specialists of Quebec, says people are coming into emergency rooms with a range of issues, from viruses to heat exhaustion.

He says the volume they are seeing this week is comparable to what they see in December and January.

Lacombe notes that more hospital staff are away on vacation during the summer months, which can lead to congestion in the ER.

While he says wait times have improved somewhat in the last year, following changes made by Santé-Québec, he believes there is still work to be done.

“We’ve seen some waiting times that went down not by a lot, but by a small margin, which is positive,” he said.

“But really, what it shows is that even in summer it doesn’t take a lot. Even a small fluctuation in the number of people that come in a little bit less staff, and we really see the effect and the impact it has on the waiting times.”

In an email to CTV News, Santé-Québec explained, “For our part, we are focusing our efforts on finding solutions to prevent service disruptions, working closely with health-care facilities to ensure continuity of care and a smooth summer. Since last year, the number of closed beds is no longer an indicator we use to guide our actions.”

It advises people to call 811 before going to the emergency room, and says many health issues can be managed at home.

It also notes there is health advice on its website for treating several ailments, from heat exhaustion to insect bites.