Background: There is conflicting evidence on the association between afterhours discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality. We examined the effects of afterhours discharge, including the potential effect of residual organ dysfunction, on hospital mortality in a large integrated health region. Methods: We performed a multi-centre retrospective cohort study of 10,463 adults discharged from nine mixed medical/surgical ICUs in Alberta from June 2012 to December 2014. We applied a two-stage modelling strategy to investigate the association between afterhours discharge (19:00h to 07:59h) and post-ICU hospital mortality. We applied mixed-effect multi-variable linear regression to assess the relationship between discharge organ dysfunction and afterhours discharge. We then applied mixed-effect multi-variable logistic regression to evaluate the direct, indirect and integrated associations of afterhours discharge on hospital mortality and hospitalization duration. Results: Of 10,463 patients, 23.7% (n=2,480) were discharged afterhours, of which 27.4% occurred on a holiday or weekend. This varied significantly by ICU size, type, and site. Patients discharged afterhours were more likely medical admissions, had greater multi-morbidity and illness acuity. Greater SOFA score in the 72 hours prior to discharge was not associated with afterhours discharge; however, was associated with hospital mortality (adjusted-OR 1.23; 95%CI,1.18-1.28). Afterhours discharge was associated with higher hospital mortality (adjusted-OR 1.19; 95%CI, 1.01-1.39), increased hospital stay (adjusted-OR 1.10; 95%CI,1.09-1.11) and increased post-ICU stay (adjusted-OR 1.16; 95%CI,1.14-1.17).Conclusions: Afterhours discharge is common, occurring in 1 in 4 discharges, and is widely variable across ICUs. Patients discharged afterhours have greater risk of hospital mortality and prolonged hospitalization.