As Ontario Faces Ongoing Threat to Prosperity, Hospitals Need Multi-Year Funding to Plan for the Future

TORONTO, Nov. 6, 2025 /CNW/ - "As Ontario continues to face strong global headwinds resulting from the trade war initiated by the United States (U.S.), the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) recognizes the tremendous economic uncertainty the Government of Ontario is facing. These challenges have required the government to make difficult decisions to strengthen our economy, and the release of the Fall Economic Statement confirms that the hospital sector's full revenue needs will not be met in 2025/26.

The recent Financial Accountability Office spending review reports that annual spending growth for the health sector will slow to 0.7 per cent in the coming years, in contrast to the 6.6 per cent rate from 2021/22 to 2024/25.

Given these circumstances, hospitals support the Ministry of Health's and Ontario Health's Hospital Sector Stabilization Plan and have been redoubling their efforts to find new efficiencies. While some savings will be found, it will not be possible to bring hospitals in deficit back into balance using these measures alone.

Hospitals and their boards of local community leaders are deeply committed to strong financial stewardship. They have a long record of effective oversight of public resources, a factor that's contributed to making Ontario's hospitals the most efficient in Canada. However, under these challenging financial circumstances, uncertainty over future revenue levels is impeding the ability of hospital boards to plan for the future. To weather this storm, hospitals need predictable, multi-year planning assumptions for the next three fiscal years.

Ontario's health care system is home to deep expertise, leadership, and innovative thinking. Ontario hospitals are already leading technological and clinical change, and the OHA is taking action to accelerate innovations such as the "hospital-at-home" model to improve health outcomes and productivity. But it will take time to unlock this potential, and to reap the long-term benefits of the government's strategy for strengthening primary care and home care.

The OHA is committed to ongoing partnership and collaboration with the Government of Ontario as we collectively respond to the threat facing the province's prosperity. Ontario's hospitals will continue to work closely with government to find innovative solutions to the financial challenges facing the sector and look forward to collaborating in the challenging years that lie ahead."

-       Anthony Dale, President and CEO, Ontario Hospital Association

Ontario Hospital Association
Established in 1924, the OHA serves as the voice of the province's public hospitals, supporting them through advocacy, knowledge translation and member engagement, labour relations, and data and analytics with the goal of helping hospitals build a better health system. The OHA is also attuned to the broader strategic questions facing the future of the province's health care system and we work to ensure Ontario's hospitals have a voice in shaping this longer-term vision.

SOURCE Ontario Hospital Association

For more information: Kirk LeMessurier, Ontario Hospital Association, [email protected]