Quebec hospitals are beefing up their security and spending millions to do it

Amid growing concerns about violence in emergency rooms, a Montreal hospital has stepped up security.

Before entering the Notre-Dame Hospital emergency room, patients must go through a metal detector. The device was put in place about three weeks ago.

The regional health authority, CISSS Centre Sud de l’Ile de Montreal, says this allows people to feel safe at the hospital. Employees were also given panic buttons, only some of the measures taken by the health facility in recent years.

Isabelle Allaire, CIUSSS Centre Sud de l’Ile de Montreal Interim Director of Nursing says the measures were put in place after an assault in the ER. In 2023, she says two men attacked each other with a knife.

The union representing employees, STTCCSMTL-CSN, says it’s happy with the new measures. They had asked for them to be put in place after they say multiple knives were seized and even a gun.

The CIUSSS says given some patients who frequent the hospital they needed to take action to keep the ER safe. Allaire says a lot of people who come to this hospital in the centre of Montreal have mental health issues.

Notre-Dame Hospital is not the only health-care establishment spending on security. According to the MUHC, it spent nearly $10 million on security agents from 2024 to 2025. Saying, “over the past few years the role of security personnel has evolved significantly.”

At Notre-Dame Hospital, the additional security measures seem to be making a difference. Officials say documented assaults have decreased by 50 per cent in the last three years.