Ontario's budget neglects health and key social supports amid desperate need

TORONTO, May 15, 2025 /CNW/ - Ontario's budget centred on tariffs fails to address the challenges facing the province's health system and the social and environmental conditions that shape people's health, say members of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO).

Of paramount concern: the millions of Ontarians without timely access to a regular primary care provider – estimated at 2.5 million in 2023 and anticipated to grow to 4.4 million by next year – if we fail to act quickly. "We applaud the efforts of Dr. Jane Philpott, head of Ontario's Primary Care Action Team and the $2.1 billion announced pre-budget for the sector. RNAO wholeheartedly supports Philpott's plan of attaching within four years every Ontarian to a family physician or nurse practitioner (NP) working within interdisciplinary primary care teams. To reach that goal, however, much larger funding commitments than those announced are needed. Global evidence shows that a robust primary care sector is foundational to strong performing health systems," says RNAO President NP Lhamo Dolkar.

"Among Canadian jurisdictions, Ontario spends the least per capita in health care and social spending, except for Alberta, and this is reflected in Thursday's budget" says Dolkar adding that "alongside the primary care crisis are other troubling performance indicators pointing to long-standing underfunding of the province's health system. Hospitals remain under severe strain – one in five beds is occupied by patients awaiting alternate levels of care, and average emergency department wait times exceed 20 hours. Home care is underfunded and fragmented, leading to prolonged hospital stays, high readmission rates, and frequent emergency department visits. Long-term care continues to operate beyond capacity, with over 45,000 people on waitlists, rising acuity, and insufficient staffing." On this latter point, Dolkar says RNAO is pleased with the launch of a new capital development program, which should be targeted for not-for-profit organizations and municipalities that wish to build new LTC homes, expand or redevelop existing ones.

"The absence of necessary investment in community care in this province will continue to overcrowd and overburden Ontario's hospitals," says Dolkar. "Hallway health care and emergency room wait times are worse today than when the Ford government took power – a direct cause of underinvestment in the community care sector." What's needed, says RNAO, is greater emphasis on primary care and community care as outlined in the association's Enhancing Community Care for Ontarians, ECCO 4.0 report released this past Monday. It calls on the government to rethink how it allocates funding across the whole system and shift focus from a hospital-centric approach to prevention, health promotion and people-centred care in communities across Ontario.

RNAO is pleased that funding was announced to create 2,200 new nursing seats in nursing programs in Ontario. This is essential to address the province's relentless nursing shortage. Despite a consistent surge in applications to BScN and nurse practitioner programs, 75 per cent of the candidates – many of them outstanding – were turned away again this year due to restricted capacity.

The nursing workforce has grown by about 16,000 since the government came to power – far less than is needed to meet the demand for care. Working conditions for nurses continue to be dire. Retention and competitive compensation for nurses must be addressed immediately. Failure to do so results in the outrageous growth of government expenditures for highly costly, for-profit nursing agencies. A recently released report shows that Ontario's public hospitals paid for-profit agencies $9.2 billion for nursing services over 10 years. "Those taxpayer dollars should be invested in retention measures for Ontario's nursing workforce, not lining the pockets of for-profit agencies," says RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun, noting the increasing appetite for for-profit health-care evident in the budget. This includes $280 million for MRIs, CT scans and other diagnostic procedures through Integrated Community Health Service Centres. "Since the massive expansion of for-profit surgical clinics under Bill 60, we are hearing story after story of corporate profiteering off the health conditions of Ontarians. Whether it's unnecessary med checks or extra payments for quick access to primary care or exorbitant fees for quicker access to surgery, it's creeping into our system, and it must be removed like a tumour," adds Grinspun.

One bright spot in the budget is $261.7 million in funding to ensure nurses and other health professionals such as paramedics and medical laboratory technologists can serve those living in underserved and growing regions in Northern, Eastern and Southwestern Ontario. The Learn and Stay Grant provides free education for those studying at post secondary institutions with the agreement they will work in the community after graduation.

Ensuring people have coverage for essential medications is crucial when it comes to equity in health. The federal government took a significant step toward this end when it passed the Pharmacare Act (Bill C-64) last November, covering contraceptive and diabetes medications. RNAO is disappointed Ontario continues to sit on the sidelines while Manitoba, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island have all signed agreements with Ottawa to implement the National Pharmacare Plan. "The federal funding commitment awaits," says Grinspun, adding that "nurses want Premier Ford to sign onto it, which would make a huge difference for millions of people who currently lack access to these drugs. And it would serve to strengthen community care."

The investment of more than $303 million over the next three years to stabilize the community-based mental health and addictions services sector is welcome, although much more is needed and it must be targeted to not-for-profit services. However, the government's insistence that its new Homelessness, Addiction and Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs will solve Ontario's toxic drug crisis is built on a false premise and is doomed to fail. "They aren't a replacement for the supervised consumption services (SCS) sites that the province shut down in March. HART hubs do not offer life-saving services for people exposed to a poisoned drug supply and they do not offer needle exchanges. These are critical to saving people's lives," says Grinspun. RNAO is one of several organizations granted intervener status in a case currently before the Ontario Superior Court that argues the government's legislation to shut down SCS sites violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. 

Thursday's budget fails to address the social determinants of health of the province's most vulnerable. "By refusing to raise the rates for Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), the government condemns hundreds of thousands to live in deep poverty. These inadequate supports – unchanged for years in the case of OW, and barely keeping pace with inflation for ODSP – fall far below the poverty line and make it impossible for recipients to afford basic needs such as housing, nutritious food, and transportation. This cruel neglect not only entrenches inequality but also directly undermines health outcomes, placing greater strain on the health system and deepening cycles of hardship," decries Grinspun.

The abject failure of the government to recognize the existential threat that the climate crisis constitutes for Ontarians is indefensible. "The government has a basic obligation to its citizens to stop the destruction of their physical future. Weakening environmental assessment laws, investing in a car-driven future, urban sprawl, and eliminating bike lanes is the opposite of what is required to protect people's health. I have no words to describe the collapse in leadership on the most critical issue of our time," says Grinspun. 

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public we serve. For more information about RNAO, visit RNAO.ca or follow us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario

For more information, please contact: Marion Zych, Director of Communications, Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO), 1-800-268-7199 ext. 209, 416-408-5605, 647-406-5605 (cell), [email protected]