Ontario targets ER waits at 26 hospitals as nurses call for a different approach
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Ontario has launched a four-year initiative worth more than $47 million aimed at reducing emergency-department wait times and improving patient flow at 26 hospitals, drawing criticism a day later from the Ontario Nurses’ Association, which argues that staffing and funding pressures also need to be addressed. The province announced the initiative on October 7, 2026, while the union issued its response on October 8.
The province’s Emergency Department Action Team, or EDAT, will work with hospitals to identify delays across key stages of a patient’s journey, including assessment, diagnostics, admission and discharge. Ontario says the multi-year initiative will focus on 26 emergency-department sites where officials see opportunities to shorten waits and improve the patient experience.
The team will also use Lean methodology, a process-improvement approach designed to identify unnecessary steps and operational bottlenecks and make workflows more efficient. Ontario says the approach will help hospitals develop practical changes that allow patients to move through emergency departments more quickly.
The initiative builds on work conducted in fall 2025 at five emergency departments operated by The Ottawa Hospital, Windsor Regional Hospital and Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. According to the province, that work identified operational, workforce and broader health-system factors contributing to delays.
The five hospitals are expected to begin implementing recommendations over the coming months as the program expands to the full group of 26 emergency-department sites.
The Ontario Nurses’ Association, however, said on October 8 that process changes alone would not resolve pressures in emergency departments. The union argues that nursing shortages and what it describes as chronic underfunding are central contributors and has called for increased investment and safer staffing levels.
ONA also questioned the province’s reliance on Lean methodology, arguing that improving workflows cannot substitute for adequate staffing. The criticism represents the union’s position on the initiative; the expanded program has not yet been completed or independently evaluated.
Ontario says several emergency-care indicators improved between 2024 and 2025, including a reduction of more than 20 per cent in average ambulance offload times, a seven per cent improvement in the wait for an initial physician assessment and a nearly 10 per cent improvement in emergency-department length of stay for admitted patients. The figures were cited by the government in announcing the program.
