More than 1.3 M Canadians abandoned waits in emergency rooms in 2023

Over 1.3 million Canadians left emergency rooms, according to new data obtained by CTV News, showing a 34 per cent increase in patients abandoning the wait for care over a year ago.

New data obtained by CTV News shows that the number of Canadians leaving hospital emergency rooms without being seen is even higher than we initially reported earlier this month.

CTV News requested updated information for the 2022-2023 year, which was not detailed in the most recent Canadian for Health Information (CIHI) report.

CIHI staff were able to disclose new numbers, that over 1.3 million Canadians left the ER, after registering for care in the 12-month period between April 1, 2022 and March 30, 2023.

This is a 34 per cent increase in the number of Canadians bailing from long ER waits in a single year over the 2021-2022 data, which reported 963,000.

It means that of the 15.1 million Canadians who sought care in emergency units, 8.6 per cent left without medical care. This is compared to 6.8 per cent who left without being seen among the 14.1 million patients who registered at an ER in 2021-2022.

“Patients arriving to EDs across Canada sit in waiting rooms that are chaotic and overcrowded. They get frustrated with our inability to provide timely and efficient care, and they leave,” wrote Dr. Catherine Varner, an emergency physician in Toronto and deputy editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

"What worries me most is that some of the people who leave without being seen will get very sick or die from the condition that made them seek care in the first place,” she added.