Media Advisory - Ontario nurses to reveal startling new data, call for fair pay for home care nurses ahead of bargaining

TORONTO, Sept. 5, 2025 /CNW/ - Home care nurses and leaders of the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) will hold a media conference at Queen's Park on Monday, September 8 to release startling data regarding home care nurses and call on both the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) and provincial government to increase resources.

Bargaining for a new collective agreement for more than 230 VON nurses begins this week; ONA will call for the VON to step up and end the shamefully low wages and dangerous working conditions for nurses who care for Ontarians in their homes. ONA will also call for the Ford government to properly fund home care. Non-profit home care saves Ontario's health-care system massive taxpayer dollars by keeping people out of hospitals and long-term care.

As the lowest paid registered nurses (RNs) in the province, fair wages and improved working conditions are pivotal to retention and recruitment. "These nurses' wages must be brought closer to those of nurses in other sectors. As they strive to care for patients with complex medical needs, chronic conditions and more, the low wages paid by VON along with dangerous working conditions are forcing many to leave their jobs. VON can and must fix the disparities in pay," says ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN.

WHO:  ONA President Erin Ariss, RN, Ontario Federation of Labour President Laura Walton, Ontario NDP MPP Wayne Gates and home-care nurses
WHAT:  Media conference to call to pay fair for home care
WHERE: Media studio, Queen's Park, Toronto, ON
WHEN:  9:30 to 10 a.m.

ONA is the union representing 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as more than 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics, and industry.

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

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