During the week ending April 20, 2026, the Quebec emergency room network saw a notable decrease in overall volume. The number of patients in waiting rooms dropped from 1,486 at the start of the week to 851 by the end of the period, while the total number of patients physically in the ER decreased from 3,731 to 3,405. Despite this reduction in raw numbers, the provincial stretcher occupancy rate remained stagnant at 79%, indicating that while the flow of new patients has slowed, the burden on bed capacity for those requiring admission or observation remains significant.
Pressure points are heavily concentrated in specific urban and suburban clusters. Laval, represented by Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé, reported a critical stretcher occupancy rate of 167%, the highest in the province. Similarly, the Laurentides region is facing extreme strain with a 130% occupancy rate, largely driven by the Hôpital de Saint-Jérôme. These figures suggest that while waiting room numbers are improving, the internal "blocking" of beds prevents these facilities from effectively clearing their ER bays.
Regional disparities continue to be a defining characteristic of the provincial landscape. While Montreal and Montérégie handle the highest absolute numbers of patients—with the CHUM and Hôpital Honoré-Mercier leading the top 10 busiest facilities—the rural and northern regions like Nord-du-Québec and Abitibi-Témiscamingue show much lower utilization rates. Nord-du-Québec, for instance, maintains a stretcher occupancy of just 13%, highlighting a vast difference in resource pressure compared to the island of Montreal’s 102%.
Among the most impacted individual facilities, the Hôpital de Saint-Jérôme stands out not just for its high number of patients in the ER (112), but for its staggering 174% stretcher occupancy rate. This indicates a severe mismatch between patient acuity and available bed space. Meanwhile, Montérégie continues to show high activity across multiple sites, with three hospitals—Honoré-Mercier, Charles-Le Moyne, and Haut-Richelieu—all appearing in the provincial top ten for waiting room volume.