Peel hiring 40 more paramedics. Increased traffic congestion, more complex patient needs and longer hospital transfer wait times have all contributed.
Peel Region is hiring 40 new paramedics next year in response to increasing demand for emergency services.
In 2024, Peel paramedics responded to an average of 407 calls per day. Now in 2025, that number has hit an average of 420 calls per day and for 2026, the region is predicting 433 calls per day.
Last year there were 27 “Region Capacity events” meaning there were 4 or fewer ambulances available to answer calls in all of Peel Region and 446 “Region Critical events” when there were 8 or fewer ambulances available.
Calls are not only increasing in number, but in complexity too. This year 52% of all calls required a “lights and siren” response and the average time required to deal with a call was up six minutes, to 166 minutes per call.
Increased traffic congestion, more complex patient needs and longer hospital transfer wait times have all contributed to longer call case times.
While Peel’s population is young compared to the GTA average, by 2042, 20% of residents will be over the age of 65. This cohort uses paramedic services the most. This year almost half of calls – 44% – were for patients 65 years and older.
With more calls and longer call durations, Peel paramedics had difficulty this year meeting response time targets.
For a level 1 call (critically ill or have potential for rapid deterioration) the target response time is 8 minutes. The average response time in Peel was 8 minutes, 44 seconds.
The target for Level 2 calls is 10 minutes while the actual average response time for Peel paramedics was 11 minutes, 22 seconds.
For the lowest level, level 5, meaning non-urgent, chronic, without evidence of deterioration, the target is 14 minutes and the actual response time was 20 minutes, 17 seconds.
Even though response time targets were not met, the Peel paramedic service views the fact that average wait times were managed according to level of severity as a positive indicator. It shows that calls are being appropriately managed and that the most urgent cases are getting the fastest service.
In addition to hiring more paramedics, Peel will also invest in new stations, with one in Brampton scheduled to open in 2027 and another one planned for South Mississauga. There is also a plan to continue to invest in paramedic safety and mental health and to expand the ambulance fleet.
