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Weekly ER Capacity Report — Quebec — August 17 to 23, 2026
Quebec emergency departments reported an average capacity of 80.8% from August 17 to 23, down from 83.0% the previous week. Prolonged stays remained slightly higher than during the same dates in 2025, though differences in regional coverage limit direct year-over-year comparisons.
Key Metrics
Provincial average ER capacity: 80.8%
Previous week: 83.0%
Same dates in 2025: 81.4%
Average patients waiting more than 24 hours: 4.4
Average patients waiting more than 48 hours: 1.7
Highest individual capacity reading: 300%, reported at Centre de santé René-Ricard (Chapais) in Nord-du-Québec
Time Window
This analysis covers August 17 to 23, 2026.
The week-over-week comparison covers August 10 to 16, 2026, while the year-over-year comparison uses August 17 to 23, 2025.
Provincial Overview
Emergency departments included in the provincial calculation reported a record-weighted average capacity of 80.8% during the week of August 17 to 23.
That was down 2.2 percentage points from 83.0% during the immediately preceding week.
Compared with the same dates one year earlier, average capacity was 0.6 percentage points lower, from 81.4% in 2025 to 80.8% in 2026.
The year-over-year movement in prolonged stays went in the opposite direction. The average number of patients waiting more than 24 hours increased from 4.1 to 4.4, while the average waiting more than 48 hours increased from 1.3 to 1.7.
Taken together, the available data show slightly lower reported capacity than one year earlier, alongside somewhat higher prolonged-stay counts.
The two annual periods do not have identical regional and facility coverage, however, so those comparisons should be interpreted with that limitation in mind.
Week-Over-Week Change
The week-over-week comparison offers a more consistent coverage base, with the same number of reporting regions and installations in both periods.
Average capacity declined from 83.0% during August 10 to 16 to 80.8% during August 17 to 23.
The average number of patients waiting more than 24 hours also declined, from 4.7 to 4.4.
For patients waiting more than 48 hours, the provincial average remained at 1.7 in both weeks at the reported precision.
These short-term changes describe movement in reported operational load and should not, on their own, be interpreted as evidence of a longer-term structural change.
Regional Standouts
Regional results varied considerably across Quebec.
Among regions with data available in both the current and year-earlier periods, Côte-Nord recorded the largest decrease in average capacity. Its average fell from 65.6% in 2025 to 51.1% in 2026, a decline of 14.5 percentage points.
Outaouais also reported a lower average, moving from 87.0% to 78.1%, a decrease of 8.9 percentage points.
In the opposite direction, Laval recorded the largest increase among directly comparable regions. Average capacity rose from 122.0% to 162.4%, an increase of 40.4 percentage points.
Montréal increased from 106.3% to 116.4%, while Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine increased from 42.3% to 52.2%.
The highest individual capacity reading anywhere in the available provincial data was 300%, reported at Centre de santé René-Ricard (Chapais) in Nord-du-Québec.
These figures describe reported operational capacity only. They do not measure clinical quality or safety.
Data Coverage
The August 17 to 23 analysis includes 15 reporting regions, 107 emergency department installations and 17,960 records.
The preceding week includes the same 15 regions and 107 installations, with 16,148 records.
The August 17 to 23, 2025 comparison period includes 15 reporting regions, 114 installations and 14,008 records.
Provincial geographic coverage was incomplete.
Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Québec had no records in either the current week or the preceding week.
Year-over-year coverage was also not identical. Mauricie-et-Centre-du-Québec had data in the 2025 comparison period, while Nord-du-Québec did not. The reverse was true for the 2026 period.
Montréal also had 17 reporting installations in 2026 compared with 21 during the 2025 comparison period.
Because of these differences, the year-over-year provincial figures represent comparisons of the available reporting data rather than a perfectly matched set of facilities.
Methodology
This report summarizes publicly reported emergency department operational data for the requested seven-day period, the immediately preceding seven days and the same calendar dates one year earlier.
Provincial averages were calculated as record-weighted means across reporting regions, meaning each region's contribution reflects the number of records available during the period rather than assigning equal weight to every region.
Figures are presented to one decimal place, consistent with the precision of the regional averages used in the provincial calculation.
The maximum figure represents the highest individual capacity reading reported by an installation during the analyzed period.
Capacity percentages and prolonged-stay counts represent reported operational load only and should not be interpreted as measures of clinical safety.
Informational Use Statement
This summary is based on publicly reported emergency department data and is provided for informational purposes only.