Canada’s ER closure crisis is deeper than you think
- Yang Sun
- Jul 14
- 1 min read
Closures hit rural hospitals hardest. Many aren’t tracked.
Reporting by Kelly Grant, Tu Thanh Ha, and Yang Sun Data Analysis by Tang Sun The Globe and Mail Published July 4 2025
ERs across Canada have closed for 1.14 million hours since 2019. There isn't a national database to track this, so the true scale of disruption has been hidden, until now.
Rural communities have it particularly rough. Many hospitals now rely on fly-in doctors, expensive travel nursing agencies and virtual care to keep the doors open. Some rural ERs have converted into clinics. Others have just vanished from the map.
The result is a very wide gap in emergency room access between urban and rural Canadians. The consequences of this are often serious, and even fatal.
The Globe’s investigation includes a searchable map illustrating the gaps in service, and in record-keeping.
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