A holistic grade of each province's ERs: how fast you're seen and how long admitted patients then board (both official CIHI, 2024-2025), plus data transparency. Expand the methodology to see exactly how each grade is built.
The grade blends three things against fixed, published standards, so "good" is a stated bar and not a curve: how fast you're seen (CIHI time to a physician, 40%), how long admitted patients then board waiting for an inpatient bed (CIHI length of stay, 40%), and data transparency (the share of the province's ERs posting a live wait, 20%). The three sub-grades are shown on every card.
Bands. Seen: A 4h or less, B 5h, C 6.5h, D 8h. Boarding: A 24h or less, B 36h, C 48h, D 72h. Transparency: A 80%+, B 60%, C 35%, D 15%.
Outcomes lead at 80%, so transparency is accountability, not clinical quality: at 20% it can move a grade about one step but cannot rescue failing care. A grade earned on very few ERs is flagged as a small system. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the territories do not report the outcome data CIHI needs, so they get a transparency sub-grade but no headline letter, and are listed separately with their live data.
These provinces and territories do not submit the ED data CIHI needs for the comparable grade, so they are listed separately with the live data they publish, not marked worse.
Outcomes: CIHI (2024-2025), official and comparable across provinces. Live transparency and crowding: ER Compass feeds. Grades use fixed thresholds (A ≤4 h to F over 8 h).