91TV

A new study published in Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) finds that burnout is driving emergency physicians to leave the specialty or reduce their clinical hours, adding to a growing body of research that points to a health care crisis in Canada.

“The prevailing theme was that the health care system is broken,” writes Dr. Kerstin de Wit, emergency physician and thrombosis physician at Kingston Health Sciences Centre and professor at 91TV, with coauthors. “We found repeated references to the emergency department making up for system inadequacies, with fewer resources and little support, and the expectation that the situation will worsen. For many, the future of emergency medicine was hopeless, with no possibility of recovery.”

The study, conducted by researchers in the Network of Canadian Emergency Researchers, consisted of a 2025 survey with 410 emergency medicine physicians in all provinces and territories except Yukon and Nunavut. Major themes were a broken health care system, a challenging workplace, physician distress, and a desire to leave emergency medicine. Of the total respondents, 10 per cent had left the specialty, 48 per cent had reduced clinical hours, and 20 per cent had taken time off. Women and younger physicians reported higher rates of burnout.

These findings are concerning and indicate that patient care in Canada is threatened, as is the well-being of emergency physicians.

“Burnout levels remain high and should no longer be considered a pandemic phenomenon,” the authors write. “Physician burnout is a patient safety risk, is associated with low-quality care, and runs against the Quintuple Aim of a sustainable health care system.”

Sources of burnout include a dysfunctional health system at both the government and hospital levels, unrealistic patient expectations about the role of emergency physicians, lack of clinical support, patient volumes, and the inability to meet patient needs beyond the scope of emergency practice.

These data add to findings from recent studies. The Canadian Medical Association’s National Physician Health Survey showed similar rates of burnout. In June 2026, the Canadian Institute for Health Information issued a report indicating wait times for admitted patients have increased yearly for emergency department care, and patients often leave without being seen by a physician.

“Emergency physician loss is a crisis for the Canadian health care system, and our results suggest attrition to the emergency workforce, which in turn exacerbates burnout among those who stay,” the authors write.

To address this crisis, governments and institutions need to prioritize addressing gaps in patient care, invest in geriatric emergency care, expand non-health-care staffing to address social and other needs of patients, and other changes. 

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Media interested in speaking with Dr. de Wit can contact:

Andrew Carroll
Media Relations Officer
andrew.carroll@queensu.ca