Ottawa paramedics fell short of their response time target for the most life-threatening 911 calls in 2025, according to figures from the Ottawa Citizen — a sobering reminder of the strain on the city's emergency medical system even as some key indicators improve.
What the numbers show
The Ottawa Paramedic Service missed its performance benchmark for so-called highest-priority calls — the cardiac arrests, severe trauma and other emergencies where every second counts. These are the cases where a fast response can be the difference between life and death, which is why the target exists in the first place.
While the service didn't hit that mark, the data also points to a genuine bright spot: the number of "level zero" events has dropped sharply over the past four years. A level zero is the period when there are no paramedic crews available anywhere in the city to take a new call — a scenario that leaves residents waiting and ties up emergency rooms when ambulances can't offload patients quickly. Drastically reducing those gaps is a meaningful win for a fast-growing city.
Why level zero matters in Ottawa
For Ottawa residents, level zero is more than a bureaucratic term. When the city runs out of available crews, calls get queued, mutual-aid agreements with neighbouring services kick in, and the clock keeps ticking for someone in distress. The steady decline in these events over four years suggests the service has been working to add capacity and smooth out the bottlenecks — including the long offload delays at local hospitals that keep paramedics stuck in ER hallways instead of back on the road.
Still, missing the top-priority response target shows the system remains stretched. Ottawa's population keeps climbing, call volumes rise with it, and demand on paramedics doesn't take a day off.
The bigger picture
Response times are one of the clearest measures residents have of how well their emergency system is keeping up. Hitting targets for the highest-acuity calls is the gold standard, and falling short — even narrowly — tends to prompt questions at City Hall about staffing levels, hospital offload times and overall funding for the paramedic service.
The encouraging trend on level zero events shows progress is possible. The challenge for Ottawa heading into the rest of 2026 will be turning that momentum into faster arrivals for the calls that matter most.
What residents can do
The best way to help the system is to keep 911 for true emergencies — chest pain, difficulty breathing, serious injuries, signs of stroke. For non-urgent health concerns, options like Health811, walk-in clinics and your family doctor free up crews for the people who need them most. Knowing the difference helps keep an ambulance available when it counts.
Source: Ottawa Citizen.
