Burnout among Canada’s emergency physicians remains high, with doctors leaving the specialty or reducing their hours as overcrowding and staff shortages worsen.
Is burnout forcing Canada’s emergency doctors to reduce their hours or leave the profession altogether?
New research suggests it is. A national survey found that 10% of participating emergency physicians had left the specialty, while nearly half had reduced their clinical hours as overcrowding, inadequate resources and prolonged patient waits continued to strain emergency departments.
The longitudinal study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, followed emergency physicians initially recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic and assessed how their working conditions and well-being changed over time.(1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Emergency physician burnout and attrition in Canada
Researchers found that burnout remained high in January 2025, indicating that the problem could no longer be explained as a temporary consequence of the pandemic.
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One in 10 Emergency Doctors Had Left the Specialty
The study surveyed 410 of the 615 emergency physicians who originally enrolled, representing a response rate of approximately 67%. Participants came from across Canada, except Yukon and Nunavut.
Of the 410 respondents, 41 doctors had left emergency medicine. This included 10 who retired, 25 who moved into another area of medical practice and six who stopped treating patients altogether.
Among the physicians who remained in emergency medicine, approximately 48% had reduced their clinical hours compared with their pre-pandemic schedules, while 20% had taken time away from work.
Some physicians said they reduced their workload to recover between shifts or protect their mental health. However, the researchers warned that losing experienced doctors or reducing their availability could place even greater pressure on those who remain.
“Emergency physician loss is a crisis for the Canadian health care system,” the researchers wrote, warning that workforce attrition could further intensify burnout.
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Burnout Remained High Years After the Pandemic
Of the doctors who completed the full burnout assessment, 46% reported high emotional exhaustion and 55% reported high depersonalization.
Overall, approximately 65% met the threshold for high burnout in at least one measured area.
Emotional exhaustion describes feeling mentally and physically depleted by work. Depersonalization can cause doctors to become emotionally detached, less empathetic or distant from patients as a way of coping with prolonged stress.
Burnout levels were especially high among women and younger physicians. The rates had also remained largely unchanged since the most difficult stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Doctors Described a Broken and Under-Resourced System
Survey responses pointed to overcrowding, insufficient staffing, limited hospital capacity and increasing demands on emergency departments.
“The prevailing theme was that the health care system is broken,” de Wit and her colleagues wrote.
Doctors said emergency departments were increasingly expected to compensate for weaknesses elsewhere in the healthcare system, including poor access to primary care, delayed specialist consultations, insufficient long-term care and limited home-care services.
Some physicians said they were blamed for long waits, delayed diagnostic tests and problems outside their control. Others described moral distress—the psychological strain of knowing what care a patient needs but being unable to provide it because resources are unavailable.
One physician described the working environment as “brutal,” “under-resourced” and “under-supported,” with no clear improvement in sight.
For many participants, the future of emergency medicine appeared hopeless, and some felt the healthcare system was “destroying” them.
Emergency Room Overcrowding Threatens Patient Safety
The crisis extends beyond physician well-being. Canadian emergency departments are managing increasing patient numbers, overcrowded waiting rooms and prolonged delays before assessment and treatment.
Some patients are being examined in chairs, hallways and other temporary spaces because proper treatment areas are unavailable. Others leave before being examined by a doctor.
Long waits can be particularly dangerous for people with time-sensitive conditions such as stroke, heart attack, internal bleeding or severe infection.
Research has linked physician burnout with a greater risk of medical errors, missed diagnoses, poor decision-making and lower-quality care.
When doctors reduce their shifts or leave emergency medicine, the remaining workforce faces even heavier workloads, creating a cycle in which burnout and staff shortages reinforce each other.
Burnout Is a System Failure, Not an Individual Weakness
The researchers said the findings should not be interpreted simply as a failure of doctors to cope with occupational stress.
Improving resilience or offering individual wellness programmes may provide some support, but these measures cannot resolve overcrowding, staffing shortages, blocked hospital beds or inadequate access to community care.
A related CMAJ editorial called for immediate action to protect emergency department workers and prevent further losses from the profession.(1✔ ✔Trusted Source
Emergency physician burnout and attrition in Canada
“Health care system leaders must not use individuals as convenient human shields to avoid taking accountability for a complex system problem,” wrote emergency physician Dr. Catherine Varner.
Potential responses include improving staffing, expanding hospital and long-term-care capacity, strengthening primary and home care, supporting geriatric emergency services and publicly reporting emergency department wait times.
Study Findings Should Be Interpreted With Caution
The researchers acknowledged that the findings cannot necessarily be applied to every emergency physician in Canada.
Only 410 of the original 615 doctors responded to the January 2025 survey, and 351 completed the full burnout assessment. Physicians who did not participate may have experienced different levels of stress or burnout.
Despite these limitations, the study followed the same group over several years and revealed persistent workforce problems extending well beyond the pandemic.
The findings suggest that Canada’s emergency care crisis is no longer only about long waits or overcrowded hospitals. It is also about whether enough doctors will remain to keep emergency departments functioning safely.
When emergency doctors begin leaving to protect their own health, the healthcare system has moved beyond burnout—it has entered a workforce crisis.
Reference:
- Emergency physician burnout and attrition in Canada – (https://www.cmaj.ca/content/198/27/E1055)
Source-Medindia