How We Measure ER Wait Times

• Every wait on this site is a number an official health system publishes. We never estimate, predict or fill gaps.
• We check each source on a fixed schedule and show when the number was last checked or updated.
• We only compare waits that measure the same thing, and urgent care is never ranked against ERs.
• ERWaitTimes.ca is independent and not affiliated with Niagara Health, London Health Sciences Centre, edwaittimes.ca, WRHN @ Midtown, WRHA HSC Children's Emergency, LHSC Children's Hospital, WRHA Urgent Care, WRHN @ Queen's Blvd., Brant Community Healthcare System, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Halton Healthcare, Alberta Health Services, Hamilton Emergency Wait Times, BCHS Willett Urgent Care Centre, Windsor Regional Hospital emergency wait times.
• This is information, not medical advice. In an emergency, call 911.

Each health system defines its own number. We show its own label and quote its own definition, so you know exactly what you are looking at.

A prediction estimates the wait for someone arriving now. An average or median describes recorded waits over the provider's reporting period; a percentile describes the proportion of patients seen within a time. These measures are different and none guarantees your own wait. They do not describe the total time you will spend at the hospital. People with the most urgent needs are always seen first.

• Niagara Health: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 5 minutes.
• London Health Sciences Centre: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 15 minutes.
• edwaittimes.ca: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 5 minutes.
• WRHN @ Midtown: we check every 10 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 1 hour.
• WRHA HSC Children's Emergency: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 5 minutes.
• LHSC Children's Hospital: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 15 minutes.
• WRHA Urgent Care: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 5 minutes.
• WRHN @ Queen's Blvd.: we check every 10 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 1 hour.
• Brant Community Healthcare System: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 15 minutes.
• Winnipeg Regional Health Authority: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 5 minutes.
• Halton Healthcare: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 15 minutes.
• Alberta Health Services: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 2 minutes.
• Hamilton Emergency Wait Times: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 15 minutes.
• BCHS Willett Urgent Care Centre: we check every 10 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 1 hour.
• Windsor Regional Hospital emergency wait times: we check every 5 minutes; the source refreshes its own figures about every 15 minutes.

Updated means the source gave the time it published the number. Checked means the source gives no time of its own, so we show when we last read it.

• Niagara Health: “Updated”. A number older than 30 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• London Health Sciences Centre: “Updated”. A number older than 45 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• edwaittimes.ca: “Updated”. A number older than 30 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• WRHN @ Midtown: “Updated”. A number older than 150 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• WRHA HSC Children's Emergency: “Updated”. A number older than 30 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• LHSC Children's Hospital: “Updated”. A number older than 45 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• WRHA Urgent Care: “Updated”. A number older than 30 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• WRHN @ Queen's Blvd.: “Updated”. A number older than 150 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• Brant Community Healthcare System: “Updated”. A number older than 45 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• Winnipeg Regional Health Authority: “Updated”. A number older than 30 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• Halton Healthcare: “Updated”. A number older than 45 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• Alberta Health Services: “Checked”. A number older than 20 minutes is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• Hamilton Emergency Wait Times: “Updated”. A number older than 1 hour is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• BCHS Willett Urgent Care Centre: “Updated”. A number older than 3 hours is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.
• Windsor Regional Hospital emergency wait times: “Updated”. A number older than 1 hour is marked as possibly out of date and loses its colour.

Times are worked out in your browser, so the age you read is the true age of the number on screen.

Medians, shortest and longest waits are only ever worked out within one comparison group: sites whose numbers mean the same thing. We never rank across different definitions.

• Alberta (AHS): Alberta Health Services estimate of the time from assessment by a triage nurse to being seen by a physician, recalculated every 2 minutes.
• Halton Healthcare (Ontario): Halton Healthcare estimate of the wait to see a physician in the emergency department, updated every 15 minutes.
• London Health Sciences Centre (Ontario): LHSC estimate of the wait from triage to seeing a doctor at its adult emergency departments, for non-urgent patients.
• LHSC Children's Hospital (Ontario): LHSC estimate of the wait from triage to seeing a doctor at the Children's Hospital emergency department, for non-urgent patients. Not ranked.
• Brant Community Healthcare System (Ontario): BCHS average time from greeting or triage to first seeing a physician at Brantford General Hospital, updated every 15 minutes. Not ranked.
• BCHS Willett Urgent Care Centre (Ontario): Staff estimate of the current wait for a new patient at the Willett Urgent Care Centre in Paris. Not ranked.
• Waterloo Regional Health Network (Ontario): WRHN estimate of the longest wait, from arrival, to see a doctor or nurse practitioner at its Kitchener emergency departments, updated every hour.
• Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (Manitoba): WRHA's time in hours between being registered and seeing a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner, at Winnipeg's adult and all-ages emergency departments and urgent care centres.
• HSC Children's Emergency (Manitoba): WRHA's time in hours between being registered and seeing a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner, at the HSC Children's Emergency. Not ranked.
• Niagara Health (Ontario): Niagara Health's current estimate of the time from checking in with the triage nurse to seeing a doctor or nurse practitioner, to the nearest half hour, at its three emergency departments.
• British Columbia (edwaittimes.ca): The time within which 9 out of every 10 patients are seen by a doctor or nurse practitioner after triage (the 90th percentile), as published on edwaittimes.ca for emergency departments and urgent and primary care centres.
• Hamilton hospitals (Ontario): The average, over the last six hours, of the time from checking in at the front desk to seeing a doctor at the emergency departments of St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences, updated every 15 minutes.
• Windsor-Essex hospitals (Ontario): The average time from being assessed by a triage nurse to seeing a doctor at Windsor Regional Hospital's Met and Ouellette campuses and Erie Shores HealthCare in Leamington, updated about every 15 minutes.

Urgent care centres see different patients from ERs, so they are listed separately and never ranked against them. Children’s ERs are included in ER lists and always labelled.

The colours are set by us, not by the health system, and are the same for every site in a group.

• The last-24-hours chart on a facility page appears once there are at least 12 hours of data.
• “Least busy hours” for a site appears after 14 days of hourly averages.
• “When are ERs quietest?” across a group appears after 28 days.
• These are patterns from past averages, not predictions. Always check the current wait.

• We don’t predict waits or tell you which ER to choose.
• We don’t give medical advice. Call 911 for anything that could be life-threatening.
• We don’t show a number a health system hasn’t published, and we don’t fill gaps with estimates.
• We don’t claim review by a clinician. If a named clinician reviews this page, we will say who and when.

• Not every ER publishes a wait. Sites without one are listed as such, with the nearest sites that do.
• A published estimate can change quickly, and it may be minutes old by the time you arrive.
• Hours, addresses and services are checked against official pages; they can change without notice.

Spotted something wrong? Email hello@erwaittimes.ca. We fix errors and list material changes below. See also where our data comes from.

Change log

• October 5, 2026: Reviewed the source definitions and freshness rules for the tracked Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario services. Clarified predictions, historical averages and percentiles, and the distinction between provider updates and our checks.
• September 27, 2026: First published, with Alberta Health Services as the first source.