Services and health
What some public services cost, and the official emergency room and surgery indicators.
What a service costs
Unit costs published by government bodies. The year varies by source.
Source: Ministère de l'Éducation, Total expenditure per student, Indicator, latest year published, published 25 March 2026.
Source: Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur, Final operating grant calculations for Québec universities 2025-2026, table A (total grant: $4,153,184,049) and table B (234,159.27 funded gross FTE students), published 15 July 2026.
Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information, Health expenditure data in brief, 2025, p. 2, published 27 November 2025.
Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information, Cost of a standard hospital stay, data table, table 1, Québec, published May 2026.
Source: Ministère de la Famille, Highlights, 2026-2027 budget rules for childcare centres (CPE), p. 4, published 17 July 2026.
Source: Statistics Canada, Adult correctional services, operating expenditures (35-10-0013-01), Québec, average daily cost per inmate, published 19 November 2025.
Emergency rooms and surgeries, 2024‑2025
Annual results and targets of the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux.
View the data
| Indicator | Result | Target | Next year's target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average time to be seen in the emergency room | 179 min | 125 min | 105 min |
| Average length of stay on a stretcher in the emergency room | 17.2 h | 16 h | 15 h |
| Surgery requests waiting for more than a year | 6,316 | 2,300 | 1,500 |
Source: Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, 2024-2025 Annual Management Report of the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, summary table p. 16; details p. 36 to 38, published 9 October 2025.
Surgery requests waiting for more than a year
4,034 requests in period 1 of 2026-2027, out of 137,905 requests waiting. End of each fiscal year, then the latest complete period.
More recent periods are not shown because a region is missing: period 2 of 2026-2027, period 3 of 2026-2027, period 4 of 2026-2027.
View the data
| Period | More than a year | 6 to 12 months | Less than 6 months | Total waiting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| period 13 of 2020-2021 | 18,930 | 27,902 | 101,996 | 148,828 |
| period 13 of 2021-2022 | 21,227 | 35,869 | 101,265 | 158,361 |
| period 13 of 2022-2023 | 17,512 | 31,529 | 109,466 | 158,507 |
| period 13 of 2023-2024 | 11,861 | 34,477 | 117,287 | 163,625 |
| period 13 of 2024-2025 | 6,316 | 30,197 | 114,842 | 151,355 |
| period 13 of 2025-2026 | 3,969 | 26,695 | 107,124 | 137,788 |
| period 1 of 2026-2027 | 4,034 | 25,925 | 107,946 | 137,905 |
Source: Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Surgeries: waiting list overview, dataset updated 18 August 2026.
Health facility spending by region, 2023‑2024
Spending by health region, $37.2B in total.
View the data
| Health region | Amount |
|---|---|
| Bas-Saint-Laurent | $1.0B |
| Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean | $1.3B |
| Capitale-Nationale | $3.7B |
| Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec | $2.1B |
| Estrie | $2.1B |
| Montréal | $11.6B |
| Outaouais | $1.3B |
| Abitibi-Témiscamingue | $793.3M |
| Côte-Nord | $633.6M |
| Nord-du-Québec | $98.0M |
| Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine | $563.5M |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | $1.6B |
| Laval | $1.5B |
| Lanaudière | $1.5B |
| Laurentides | $2.0B |
| Montérégie | $4.5B |
| Nunavik | $498.0M |
| Terres-Cries-de-la-Baie-James | $412.0M |
Source: Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Financial overview: expenditures by program and region, dataset updated 29 April 2026.