Nursing Homes Workers Host Province-wide Pickets to Demand Respectful New Collective Agreement from Corporate Employers

TORONTO, June 4, 2026 /CNW/ - Nurses and health-care professionals at 49 nursing homes across the province are hosting information pickets to raise awareness about their demands for fair wages, benefits and safe working conditions in their new collective agreement. The new agreement will impact more than 4,400 Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) members, who provide round-the-clock, comprehensive and complex care to residents in for-profit long-term care homes.

"Our members have made it absolutely clear that they cannot continue to provide high-quality care without a respectful agreement that addresses their bargaining demands," says Erin Ariss, registered nurse and ONA Provincial President. "For years, for-profit nursing homes employers have diverted funds away from residents and front-line workers to line the pockets of shareholders. This must end."

Nurses working in long-term care are paid more than 10.8 per cent less than those who work in hospitals, despite providing similar levels of care. Some nurses and health-care professionals even work two jobs just to make a livable income. This wage discrepancy often results in workers leaving long-term care to work in other higher paying sectors. The staff who remain end up with unreasonable workloads and unsafe working conditions.

ONA members are demanding wage parity with hospitals and safer working conditions such as staffing ratios so that they can provide the high-quality care residents rely on.

"The money for fair wages and safer working conditions exists. Look no further than Extendicare, which reported a whopping $96 million in profits last year, or Southbridge Care Homes which receives public funding and doesn't even report their profits to the public. Corporations have more than enough money to ensure that staff are paid fairly for the high-quality care they provide," explains Ariss. "But it all comes down to priorities. Employers need to remember that without fair wages, benefits and safe working conditions they will not be able to retain staff. And without highly skilled nurses and health-care professionals, there is no care for residents."

"These province-wide information pickets showcase the urgency our members feel to negotiate a good deal that serves their residents, coworkers and communities. Respect can't wait. Nursing homes CEOs must stop the greed and finally put care over profits."

ONA is the union representing 68,000 health-care professionals, along with 18,000 nursing student affiliates, who provide care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, community settings, clinics, and industry.

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

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