Two Montreal ERs exceed 200% occupancy rate this weekend
Posted November 8, 2026 12:23 pm.
Emergency rooms in Montreal were overflowing Saturday, with the occupancy rate at the Royal Victoria Hospital reaching 244 per cent and the Montreal General Hospital reaching 213 per cent.
The McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) is urging members of the public who do not require emergency medical attention to consider other health-care resources to help reduce pressure on emergency services until further notice.
“As of this morning, occupancy at both emergency departments remains very high, at 194 per cent,” reported Dr. Nicolas Gillot, medical director and director of the Professional Services Directorate at the MUHC. “Pressure on our teams and hospital capacity therefore remains significant.”
The high volume of patients is reportedly due to several factors, including an increase in consultations, more complex patient needs, particularly among the elderly, and a limited number of hospital beds.
“The situation at the Montreal General Hospital remains particularly challenging and is being closely monitored, notably due to high demand for surgical services,” said Dr. Gillot. “We would like to thank our colleagues at St. Mary’s Hospital, who are contributing to this collective effort by accepting certain general surgery cases from Lachine Hospital, helping to limit transfers to the General.”
The MUHC also reported an increase in respiratory viruses, including influenza, as well as an ongoing high volume of trauma cases.
“At the Glen site, the situation is gradually stabilizing,” reported Dr. Gillot. “This improvement has allowed us to resume accepting transfer requests from community hospitals for certain semi-urgent cases, which had been temporarily put on hold since Friday.”
Officials say they will continue to encourage the public to consider alternatives to emergency departments whenever appropriate to help minimize pressure on hospital services.
The MUHC says several health-care alternatives are available, including Info-Santé 811, pharmacists, family doctors or clinics, and the Primary Care Access Point (GAP).
“This collaboration is essential to helping us gradually restore our specialized and highly specialized hospital services, while ensuring safe care for patients who require the resources of our emergency departments,” said Dr. Gillot. “We sincerely thank the public, our healthcare network partners and all our teams for their continued collaboration.
To find out the occupancy rate of the emergency room in your area, click here .
