I live in Canada. Things vary. For sure triage is in place in ER like anywhere else. But I've sat in many an ER with my kids, my mother in law (cancer), and many friends and myself and honestly I've always felt their scheduling was fair considering the priorities and demand.

But right now I can see my family doctor with 1 day notice, most times same day, and they have someone on-call for phone 14 hours a day and on weekends. Mostly I can avoid ER and drop-in clinic visits completely.