Emergency wait to see a doctor
7.3 hours for 9 in 10 patients
9 in 10 patients saw a doctor within this time (CIHI’s 90th percentile).
About the same this year (−1.4%, within ±5%). 109% Worse over 4 years. CIHI trend: “Weakening”
Down 1.4% in a year. Up 109% since 2021/22.
Who decides what
Main decision-maker: Province of B.C. · 2 other bodies Show all
| Body | What it decides | Law or bylaw |
|---|---|---|
| Province of B.C. | Sets provincial standards for health services and appoints Island Health’s board. | Health Authorities Act, s. 3 Health Authorities Act, s. 4 |
| Island Health | Plans and runs health services in the region: which services, which facilities and the programs that deliver them. | Health Authorities Act, s. 5 |
| Government of Canada and Parliament | Pays the Canada Health Transfer to the Province, on the conditions set in the Canada Health Act. | Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, Part V.1 Canada Health Act, s. 5 and 7 |
Province: last general election October 19, 2024; next set for October 21, 2028 unless called earlier (Constitution Act, s. 23). Canada: last general election April 28, 2025; next set for October 15, 2029 unless called earlier (Canada Elections Act, s. 56.1).
The first row is the main decision-maker. Each row says what a body decides and links to the law, order or bylaw that gives it that role. It does not say who caused a change: markets, households and other governments also move these numbers. Who decides what, for every measure · How we choose
Over time
Victoria emergency departments: hours until 9 in 10 patients saw a doctor
2025/26 Hours, by fiscal year
- Royal Jubilee Hospital 7.3 hours
- Victoria General Hospital 8.4 hours
- Saanich Peninsula Hospital 3.8 hours
P provincial election: Oct 19, 2024F federal election: Sep 20, 2021; Apr 28, 2025
Ticks on the top edge mark general election days for the governments listed under “Who decides what”; the main decision-maker’s are shown first. Results often lag decisions by years. About these ticks
More charts (1)
Royal Jubilee compared with Island Health, B.C. and Canada
2025/26 Hours, by fiscal year
- Royal Jubilee Hospital 7.3 hours
- Island Health (all hospitals reporting) 5.6 hours
- British Columbia 4.8 hours
- Canada 5.3 hours
P provincial election: Oct 19, 2024F federal election: Sep 20, 2021; Apr 28, 2025
Ticks on the top edge mark general election days for the governments listed under “Who decides what”; the main decision-maker’s are shown first. Results often lag decisions by years. About these ticks
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Royal Jubilee Hospital | Victoria General Hospital | Saanich Peninsula Hospital |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 7.3 | 8.4 | 3.8 |
| 2024/25 | 7.4 | 9.1 | 3.7 |
| 2023/24 | 5.6 | 6.5 | 3.4 |
| 2022/23 | 4.4 | 5.6 | 2.9 |
| 2021/22 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 2.8 |
| Period | Royal Jubilee Hospital | Island Health (all hospitals reporting) | British Columbia | Canada |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 7.3 | 5.6 | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| 2024/25 | 7.4 | 5.7 | 5.0 | 5.5 |
| 2023/24 | 5.6 | 4.7 | 4.3 | 5.2 |
| 2022/23 | 4.4 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
| 2021/22 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 4.2 |
In plain words
In the emergency department at Royal Jubilee Hospital, 9 in 10 patients saw a doctor within this many hours of arriving, over the fiscal year. Victoria General and Saanich Peninsula hospitals, Island Health, B.C. and Canada are shown as lines.
How we decide “About the same this year. Worse over 4 years.”
The change is 1.4% of the earlier value, below the 5% threshold. Over 4 years (since 2021/22) the change is 108.6% of the earlier value, at or above the 5% threshold, so the label also says Worse over 4 years.
A shorter time is better: it means patients see a doctor sooner after they arrive. Royal Jubilee: 7.3 hours in 2025/26, 7.4 in 2024/25. CIHI’s own reading of the hospital for 2025/26: performance trend “Weakening”, compared with other hospitals “Below average performance”.
Outcome measures read Better, Worse or About the same; published government targets read Ahead of, On or Behind target; value-judgement measures read Rising, Falling or Steady in a neutral colour. A change smaller than the agency's own margin of error, or otherwise smaller than 5% of the earlier value, is About the same (or Steady). No change is calculated across a marked break in a series. The rule.
Keep in mind
Why it matters. A long wait in emergency is one of the most direct signs of pressure on hospitals. The 90th percentile shows how long the longer waits are, not only the typical one.
- This is the 90th percentile: 9 in 10 patients saw a doctor (the first physician assessment) within this time, and 1 in 10 waited longer. It is not the typical wait.
- The time runs from triage or registration, whichever comes first, to the first assessment by a doctor, as CIHI defines it.
- CIHI marks British Columbia as “Partial data coverage” for 2025/26: not every B.C. emergency department reports. The three Victoria hospitals are reported individually.
- These are fiscal years (April to March). CIHI releases the table once a year.
- This is national health data from CIHI, an independent body that governments set up and fund. Hospitals report to it.
Posted waits, logged here (supporting only)
Supporting only. Island Health posts an estimated wait for each emergency department on its Find Care page. This site has read that page once an hour since November 11, 2026, 3 p.m. (Pacific time). The latest reading here is from November 11, 2026, 7 p.m. (Pacific time). This is a short, unofficial log, not a long official history.
Rules: a reading counts only if the page showed a wait in hours and minutes. The page shows no time for its wait, so a wait that stays the same for 6 hours or more is treated as stale and left out. Missing hours are not filled in.
Posted emergency waits logged here, by month
| Hospital and month | Middle (median) posted wait | Readings used | Hours with no usable reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Jubilee, November 2026 | 5 h 15 min | 5 | 0% |
| Victoria General, November 2026 | 6 h 00 min | 5 | 0% |
| Saanich Peninsula, November 2026 | 4 h 15 min | 5 | 0% |
Source: Island Health, Find Care page (islandhealth.ca/find-care), read hourly by this site’s logger, which names itself in each request. Download every reading (CSV). The current month is incomplete. Saanich Peninsula’s emergency department is not open overnight (the page reads, for example, “Open today from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.”), so its missing hours include closed hours.
Which places
Area: Victoria hospitals
The emergency departments of Royal Jubilee and Victoria General hospitals in Victoria, and Saanich Peninsula Hospital in Central Saanich, each reported separately.
Included
- Royal Jubilee Hospital emergency department (the headline)
- Victoria General Hospital emergency department
- Saanich Peninsula Hospital emergency department
Not included
- Urgent and primary care centres and walk-in clinics
- Other Island Health hospitals (included in the Island Health line)
Official definition
Shown for comparison
- Comparison area: Vancouver Island (Island Health) Island Health’s whole service area: Vancouver Island and surrounding communities, not only Greater Victoria.
- Comparison area: All of B.C. The whole province of British Columbia.
- Comparison area: All of Canada Canada as a whole, shown only for comparison.
How the agency describes it: Royal Jubilee, Victoria General and Saanich Peninsula hospitals (emergency departments), compared with Island Health, British Columbia and Canada.
How we got it
This number is published by the agency as shown; it is not calculated here. The script reads it from the agency’s own document and refuses to show it unless the expected text is found.
Licence and credits
This figure is public but not under an open licence: the agency publishes it for anyone to read, and it is shown here with credit and a link to the agency’s terms. About licences.
- Licence
- Public data, not under an open licence. Used with attribution. Agency’s terms of use
- Updated by agency
- Annually (CIHI data table); latest release Sep 21, 2026
- Retrieved
- Nov 11, 2026, 8:09 PM B.C. time
CIHI’s terms allow use for education and non-commercial purposes with credit to CIHI. This site is non-commercial.
Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information. Used under CIHI’s terms of use; not endorsed by CIHI.
Inputs and results
Inputs are money, staff or decisions; results are what services delivered. One does not prove the other moved. Kinds of measure
Beside this result
Surgeries completed in Island Health: 58,424 in 2025/26 (57,646 in 2024/25). People waiting for surgery
Spot a mistake?
Email [email protected]. Fixes are listed in the corrections log.