On August 18, 2026, the emergency department situation across Quebec's 120 tracked facilities remained stable compared to the previous day, according to historical data from urgencesquebec.com. The latest snapshot of the day recorded 1,739 patients waiting and 3,927 total patients in emergency rooms, maintaining an overall stretcher occupancy rate of 81%. This shows no change in either waiting volume or stretcher occupancy compared to 24 hours prior, despite an intraday rise from the earliest snapshot of 1,273 waiting and 74% occupancy.
Several regions continue to experience severe overcrowding, led by Laval at 155% stretcher capacity, Laurentides at 122%, and Chaudière-Appalaches at 118%. On an individual facility level, Hôpital Charles-Le Moyne in Montérégie was the busiest with 72 waiting patients (91% stretcher occupancy), while Hôpital de Saint-Eustache in Laurentides reached a critical stretcher occupancy of 151% with 63 patients waiting.