Wait times for Quebec's 811 health line are exploding. What's the holdup?

Wait has nearly doubled from 30 minutes in 2022 to 56 minutes in 2025

Quebecers looking to call Info-Santé 811 for non-urgent health advice should be prepared to wait.

Last month, the average wait time to speak to a nurse hit a peak of 98 minutes on July 14 before going down to 87 minutes on July 25, according to Santé-Québec's performance indicators.

The situation has been steadily getting worse over the years.

In 2022, a caller could expect to wait on average 30 minutes before speaking to an Info-Santé nurse. In 2025, the average wait time was almost double at 56 minutes, according to Santé Québec.

If you want to speak to a nurse in English, you have to wait almost 10 minutes longer.

Camille Racine, a 72-year-old resident of Lac-aux-Sables in the Mauricie region, doesn't have a family doctor, so he's had to use 811 a few times in the past two months.

Racine says on one occasion, he called 811 after experiencing a sharp pain on the lower right side of his abdomen and worried it might be related to a past health issue.

"It's awful because you wait about 15 minutes before someone answers," he said, "but then you're put on hold."

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Racine said he feels lucky he only waited 15 minutes before his call was picked up, but is frustrated by what came next.He said he spent about an hour and 45 minutes speaking with three different people, only to be told they couldn't help him. They had been trying to get him an appointment with a doctor.

"Because it was 5 p.m., there were no appointments left for the next day," Racine said.Before the call ended, Racine was referred to Santé-Québec's online booking system for medical appointments, but he had no luck there either.

He said he ended up paying $230 for an appointment at a private clinic, only to be referred to the ER, where he says he waited 22 hours to be seen.

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In a statement to CBC, Santé Québec spokesperson Catherine Brousseau said its teams are fully mobilized and working hard to respond to requests as quickly as possible.

"Since the fall, efforts have been made to increase call-handling staff. We are also testing various measures to reduce call-processing times and better meet demand," she said.

Brousseau, however, said that certain factors may cause delays including a high volume of calls, labour shortages and the increasing complexity of calls requiring greater attention.

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In 2022, Info-Santé received just over 1.7 million calls, compared to 1.9 million in 2025.

Brousseau also explained the longer wait times for English services, saying it was due to the more limited availability of bilingual nursing staff.

Paul Brunet, a patients' rights advocate, said Santé Québec has shot itself in the foot by cutting staffing in the health-care system.

He says that if people don't have access to front-line care, they will inevitably end up in the ER, putting more pressure on an already taxed system.

"It's like a domino. If you neglect one side of the alternative that you're offering to patients, well the next digit, the next dot of the system is going to go down," he said.

Despite the wait times, Santé-Québec says people should call 811 before going to the emergency room. Brosseau also reminded patients that a callback option is available, which eliminates the need to wait on hold.

Annabelle Olivier is a digital journalist at CBC Montreal. She previously worked at Global News as an online producer. You can reach her at anne.isabelle.olivier@cbc.ca.

With files from CBC's Gloria Henriquez and Leah Hendry