"After-hours care for non-emergent needs"

When my son was seven years old, he slipped on an indoor pool deck and cut open his chin. The cut was deep enough that I knew we were going to need stiches. This occurred at 7pm so I knew we were not able to call his pediatrician and it likely should not wait until the next day (knowing also we'd likely not get an appointment next day). I called 811 to inquire about options as I didn't want to wait in the ER, knowing he was a non-urgent case. They indicated I could try Urgent Care at the Edmonton Clinic but that they are likely full by 8pm and close the doors. The nurse on the phone gave me the number to call to inquire about the wait times. I called but no one picked up. So, I packed up and took my son to the urgent clinic (arriving around 7:45pm) and sure enough, the doors were locked as they were at capacity, and they close at 10pm. I looked online to see what the ER wait times were for the hospitals in Edmonton and my best option was 5 hours wait at the Stollery. I decided to go and checked in at triage by 8:30 pm. We waited for 8 hours in the ER and were not seen until 4:30 a.m. I understand that we were low priority with much sicker kids needing to be seen first. My frustration is with the lack of non-urgent after-hours care options for situations like this when the emergency room is not needed. I would value our health system to consider increasing capacity for after-hours care for urgent care that would leave the seats in the ER for those that really need that care.