Published plans and annual reports 2025–2026: Ministry of Health

Ministry overview

The Ministry of Health (the ministry) is responsible for delivering a patient-focused, results-driven, integrated, and sustainable publicly funded health-care system. The ministry provides funding, planning, and guides resources in the health-care system and delivers key health-care priorities, while also providing direct services, including operating the world’s largest public health insurance system.

Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, Ontario is:

• Providing the right care in the right place – by expanding and bringing together primary care, improving access to home and community care, mental health and addictions services and care provided through local pharmacies, connecting care through Ontario Health Teams, and providing people with more virtual care options, such as getting health information 24/7 through Health811.
• Delivering faster access to care – by reducing wait times for surgeries and procedures, building new hospitals, adding more beds, providing faster access to emergency care, and investing in pediatric services and long-term care.
• Hiring more health-care workers – through significant investments in health profession education and workforce training, by making it easier for health-care workers who want to work in Ontario and maximizing the skills and expertise of health-care workers.

Ministry’s vision

The ministry focuses on helping people stay healthy, connecting people to high-quality care where and when they need it, and protecting the health-care system for future generations.

Ministry programs

Digital health

The ministry is helping people to better manage their own health and connect them to care where and when they need it by continuing to improve digital health services, including providing access to health information to Ontarians and health-care providers, and the clinically guided use of health data and information technology to support effective care.

Nearly all Ontarians who receive health services now benefit from digital records and other provincial digital health assets, containing information that can be accessed by authorized clinicians. More than 300,000 frontline health-care providers can access integrated patient records, including hospital reports, lab test results, diagnostic images/reports, drug information, and immunization data, which supports more connected services and better decision-making.

Other provincially funded digital services are providing many Ontarians with access to convenient virtual care options and enabling providers to send electronic referrals, further providing people with faster access to care, and reducing the administrative burden on physicians. Ontarians also have access to a growing number of resources under Health811 to help them navigate the health-care system.

Emergency health services

The ministry supports responsive and connected emergency health services, working in partnership with paramedic services, Ornge, Central Ambulance Communications Centres and other sector partners, and continues to modernize and support innovation to ensure people across Ontario have access to high-quality emergency care.

The ministry has increased investments, monitoring, and collaboration to reduce ambulance offload times and increase ambulance and paramedic availability. Ontario continues to expand 9-1-1 patient care models that empower paramedics to provide timely care to eligible patients in their community, while also protecting hospital capacity for those who need it most.

The province is renewing and expanding Ornge’s fixed wing fleet to provide safe and consistent air ambulance services to Ontarians, especially in rural and remote areas of the province, and making industry-leading technology upgrades to modernize Ontario’s ambulance dispatch system. Ontario also continues to support paramedic education, adding more than 300 primary care paramedic program spaces at provincial colleges.

Health human resources

The ministry supports Ontario’s health-care workforce and associated education and regulatory reforms to maximize health human resource capacity and continue growing the health-care workforce long term.

This includes focusing on health human resources recruitment and retention, expanding education, professional development, and clinical supports, optimizing health-care professionals’ expertise and scopes of practice, and establishing clear pathways for internationally educated and interjurisdictional health professionals to join Ontario’s workforce more quickly.

The province’s historical expansion of medical and nursing education programs, as well as interdisciplinary primary care, is bolstering the health-care workforce, along with the ongoing expansion of interdisciplinary health education and investments in clinical placements. Scope of practice changes, including for pharmacists, registered nurses, and nurse practitioners, are further providing Ontarians with more access and options for receiving convenient care. Ontario also leads the country in removing barriers for internationally prepared health practitioners to work in the province.

Health programs

The ministry provides oversight of Ontario’s Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), which provides coverage of medically necessary physician and hospital services, as well as some health-care practitioner services. The ministry also administers public drug programs and provides funding to seniors and people with long-term physical disabilities who require assistive devices due to medical conditions such as stroke, cerebral palsy, and multiple sclerosis.

Other health programs that the ministry provides direction and oversight for include blood programs, laboratories, and diagnostic services. The ministry also collaborates with federal, provincial, and territorial partners to advance shared priorities such as public drug funding, addressing drug shortages, and the national blood program administered through Canadian Blood Services.

Current priorities include supporting the expansion of Integrated Community Health Service Centres, advancing greater integration in the lab system to support a seamless testing experience, and modernizing administration, such as the claims process for Ontario Public Drug Programs, assistive devices, and OHIP, to provide Ontarians with a better patient experience.

Health research

The ministry invests in health research to improve the Ontario health system, seeking greater efficiency, higher quality of care, and better experiences for patients and caregivers. This program of health research includes investing in health data and research infrastructure, information systems and human resources, all of which have contributed to making Ontario a world leader in health research.

Home and community care

The ministry supports home care services, which assist people of all ages, such as children and youth with medically complex needs, the frail elderly and other seniors, persons with physical disabilities, and persons with chronic diseases, to live safely and independently in the community, or return home from hospital. Home care includes professional, personal support, homemaking, and care coordination services. Home care services are complemented by community care services, which include Indigenous services, community support services, such as meal and transportation services, and assisted living services.

Ontario has accelerated additional investments in home and community care, which are stabilizing expanded services and increasing compensation for personal support workers, nurses, and other frontline care providers. This has allowed more care to be delivered to more Ontarians than ever before. The province is supporting the expansion of the Hospital to Home Program, providing patients who are ready to be discharged from the hospital with a more seamless and expedited transition that includes a range of home care supports such as nursing, personal support, and therapy. Ontario is also testing new integrated care models through the launch of Ontario Health Teams Leading Projects. Insights gained from these models will inform improvements in home care delivery.

Ontario is expanding and improving the delivery of palliative and end-of-life care. This includes supporting expanding care and capacity in hospices, grief and bereavement services, and building more hospice beds. Investments in primary care and home and community care also support palliative and end-of-life services.

Hospitals and health-care infrastructure

The ministry oversees funding and provides direction on the capital and operational requirements of the province’s hospital system, community health centres, and specialized services such as cancer care, renal care, surgery, and maternal care. Key priorities include improving hospital infrastructure, ensuring timely access to essential surgical services, procedures, and scans, and reducing Alternate Levels of Care (ALC) rates so patients can receive care in a more appropriate setting.

To address growing demands on the health-care system and increase access to reliable, high-quality care, Ontario’s investments over the next 10 years will lead to nearly $50 billion in health-care infrastructure across the province, as well as adding 3,000 new beds. These investments will increase capacity in hospitals, build new health-care facilities, and renew existing hospitals and community health centres.

Ontario continues to see a decline in surgical wait-lists and the ongoing expansion of community surgical and diagnostic centres will expand the availability of publicly funded health services. The province also continues to focus on strengthening emergency departments to address capacity pressures and reduce wait times and length of stay.

Mental health and addictions

The ministry is responsible for overseeing the implementation of Ontario’s mental health and addictions strategy, Roadmap to Wellness, which is creating a comprehensive and connected mental health and addictions system of services. This includes providing direction, support and funding for adult community mental health and addictions programs, child and youth mental health services, supportive housing, provincial forensic mental health programs and mental health services to support people involved in the criminal justice system.

Current priorities include identifying and addressing system gaps across the care continuum, working with Ontario Health to build the core infrastructure to support evidence-based planning, equitable access to services and enhanced monitoring to ensure the system is effective and responsive to Ontarian’s needs.

Ontario is supporting safer communities and people struggling with addiction and mental health issues by creating 28 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. These new Hubs will improve access to recovery and treatment services, and bring new, safe and comprehensive mental health, social, and addiction services, as well as supportive housing units, to communities across the province.

Physician and provider services

The province is increasing access to team-based primary care and providing support to all existing interprofessional primary care teams. Interprofessional primary care teams are made up of a family physician or nurse practitioner, and other health-care professionals such as nurses, physician assistants, social workers, dietitians, and more.

According to the Canada Institute for Health Information, Ontario leads the way in access to a regular health-care provider. A Primary Care Action Team, led by Dr. Jane Philpott, is implementing an action plan to connect another two million people in the province to a family doctor or primary care team by 2029, achieving the government’s goal of connecting everyone in Ontario to a family doctor or primary care team.

The ministry manages relationships with representatives for physicians and other health-care providers, such as the Ontario Medical Association, Ontario Dental Association, Ontario Association of Optometrists, and Association of Ontario Midwives, and is responsible for provider payment policy and negotiations, and accountability. The ministry also ensures patients are not charged for OHIP insured services, in accordance with the Health Insurance Act and the Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act.

Population-based services and health equity

Ontario is building a more equitable health-care system that is responsive to the needs of diverse communities, such as Indigenous, Black, and French-speaking populations, working to improve health outcomes through different initiatives and focused health-care investments.

Locally Driven Population Health Models provide culturally responsive health services in communities across Ontario. The ministry is advancing the Black Health Plan through investments in the Integrated Black Health and Social Services Hub and initiatives to improve mental health and non-crisis emergency care, improve sickle cell disease care and chronic disease prevention and management. The ministry is also supporting 2SLGBTQIA+ youth through annual investments in inclusive mental health services.

The province is working with Indigenous partners to improve Indigenous health outcomes including providing funding directly to First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban Indigenous partners for Indigenous designed and delivered health services and improve access to culturally safe and effective health-care services closer to where people live. The government is also working to ensure that Francophones in Ontario can access health services in their preferred language and works with Francophone partners in providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

Public health

The ministry supports the delivery of quality public health services to Ontarians and provides direction and guidance to promote and protect population health, surveillance, and health system emergency management.

The government is strengthening public health to improve capacity, stability, and sustainability in the sector and deliver more equitable health outcomes for Ontarians. This includes working with public health partners to refine the roles and responsibilities of public health units to build healthier communities across the province, including reviewing the Ontario Public Health Standards. The ministry is also focused on ensuring a more equitable, sustainable, and predictable funding approach in the long-term.

Immunization is a key component of Ontario’s public health system and one of the most cost-effective health interventions. The province’s publicly funded immunization program offers 29 products that protect against 23 diseases, ensuring broad protection for individuals across Ontario. Ongoing monitoring of vaccine preventable diseases, the evidence and recommendations of experts on immunization products, and emerging immunization products allows the ministry to support increased vaccine uptake, reduce the risk of disease outbreaks, and achieve better health for everyone in Ontario. Through responsive program changes, including new and expanded eligibility, targeted catch-up initiatives, and optimized immunization schedules, the ministry works to protect public health and improve access to care across Ontario.

2025–2026 strategic plan

Building health infrastructure

Ontario will invest approximately $56 billion over the next 10 years in health infrastructure, including over $43 billion in capital grants. This includes investing $103 million in additional planning grants, which builds on Ontario’s plan to support more than 50 major hospital projects and deliver approximately 3,000 new beds over 10 years to increase access to quality care.

Allowing more health professionals to practice

As announced in April 2025, the government has introduced the Protect Ontario Through Free Trade Within Canada Act, to unlock free trade and labour mobility across Canada. This includes measures to allow more regulated health professionals to begin practising in Ontario and removing restrictions using “As of Right” rules.

Accelerating access to life-saving medications

The government is working to accelerate access to life-saving medications by improving existing processes and launching a new pilot pathway, beginning with select high-priority cancer drugs. This will help people access life-saving medications faster and put Ontario at the forefront of health-care innovation.

Investing in community-based mental health and addictions services

The government is investing more than $303 million over the next three years to support stability in the community-based mental health and addictions services sector. This commitment will provide a 4% increase in the sector’s base funding to support community-led and delivered mental health programs.

Advancing Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan

The government is exploring opportunities to expand Ontario’s Primary Care Teaching Clinics capacity to support the Primary Care Action Plan, including making available up to $300 million over the next four years, including $60 million in 2025–2026. Primary Care Teaching Clinics will provide dedicated learning environments for primary care physicians and other practitioners, while also providing care to the people of Ontario.

This investment will support the planning and implementation of additional Primary Care Teaching Clinics across the province where there is a need for more intensive teaching capacity. These clinics are anticipated to connect approximately 300,000 people in Ontario to primary care and train at least 140 more family physicians per year, starting in 2025–2026. With this new commitment, the government is investing up to $2.1 billion in the Primary Care Action Plan.

Increasing the number of health-care professionals across Ontario

Through the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant, the government is increasing the number of nurses, paramedics, and medical laboratory technologists in underserved and growing regions, including in Northern, Eastern, and Southwestern Ontario. Eligible students commit to working in the communities where they studied for a term of service after graduation. The government is continuing to invest in the program with an additional $261.7 million over three years.

Building on the government’s announcement in the 2024 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, Ontario is investing $159.6 million over three years, beginning in 2026–2027, to expand the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant to a total of four cohorts of medical school students, to help improve access to primary care across the province.

Investing in hospitals

Ontario’s hospitals deliver critical health services in communities across the province. This is why the government is making available up to $1.1 billion in additional hospital funding for 2025–2026, which includes up to 4% in base and targeted funding, and one-time funding for the surgical system. As part of this investment, the government will work collaboratively with hospitals to enhance accountability and operational improvements, while ensuring the people of Ontario continue to have access to high-quality public hospital services.

Investing in new surgical and diagnosis centre capacity

The government is committed to reducing backlogs in surgical and diagnostic services and making it easier and faster for people to connect to publicly funded surgeries and procedures. This is why the government is investing up to $280 million over two years to support the expansion of Integrated Community Health Service Centres. These centres will deliver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Computerized Tomograph (CT) scans, endoscopy procedures, and orthopedic surgeries in the community setting. This funding is in addition to the $275 million over the last three years, including $50 million in 2025–2026, which was provided to hospitals to address surgical waitlists.

Investing in training and educating more nurses

Ontario continues to expand nursing enrolment in colleges and universities to help address the need for nurses now and in the years to come. This is why the government is investing an additional $56.8 million over the next three years for training and education funding to support an enrolment increase of nursing spaces at publicly assisted colleges and universities by over 2,200 registered and registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners. In addition, this funding will support continued investments in innovative, flexible, online nursing pathways.

Ministry financial information

Table 1: Ministry planned expenditures 2025–2026 ($)

Table 2: Total operating and capital summary by vote 

Operating and capital summary by vote

Historic trend table

Agencies, Boards and Commissions (ABCs)

Ministry of Health organization chart

June 16, 2025

• Sylvia Jones, Minister
  • Vijay Thanigasalam, Associate Minister, Mental Health and Addictions
  • Anthony Leardi, Parliamentary Assistant
  • John Jordan, Parliamentary Assistant
• Dr. Jane Philpott, Chair, Primary Care Action Team
  • Rob Francis, Director, Primary Care Action Team Secretariat
  • Carly Bergamini, Director, Communications and Partnership Engagement
• Deborah Richardson, Deputy Minister
  • Angela Copeland, Chief Information Officer, Health Services I&IT Cluster
  • Peter Spencer, Director, Legal Services
  • Lisa Legatto, Director, Communications
  • Anne Corbett, Executive Lead, Health Sector Governance and Oversight
  • Lindsey Cary, Director, Policy and Delivery
  • Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Office of Chief Medical Officer of Health, Public Health, & ADM, Public Health
    • Elizabeth Walker, Executive Lead, Public Health
      • Brent Feeney, Director, Accountability and Liaison
      • Colleen Kiel, Director, Public Health Strategic Policy, Planning and Communications
      • Jodi Melnychuk, Director, Health Protection, Policy and Partnerships
      • Heather Schramm, Director, Health Promotion and Prevention Policy and Programs
      • Robert Lerch, Director, Vaccine Policy and Programs
      • Justine Hartley, Director, Health System Emergency Management
  • Dr. Karima Velji, Chief of Nursing and Professional Practice & ADM, Nursing and Professional Practice
    • David Lamb, Director, Capacity and Health Workforce Planning
    • Allison Henry, Director, Health Workforce Regulatory Oversight
    • Dr. Nathalie Boudreau, Director, Nursing and Health Professionals
  • Shawn Lawson, Assistant Deputy Minister and Chief Administrative Officer, Corporate Services
    • Cherrie Lethbridge, Director, HR Strategic Business Unit
    • Rayomond Dinshaw, Director, Fiscal Oversight and Performance
    • John Amodeo, Director, Corporate Business Services
    • Helder Marcos, Director, Financial Management
    • Rosie Teng, Director, Accounting and Controllership
    • Polina Bellissimo, Director, Corporate Systems Implementation
  • Sean Twyford, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Planning and French Language Services
    • Karen Lu, Director, Strategic Policy
    • Jovan Matic, Director, Health Innovation Policy
    • Jillian Paul, Director, Research, Analysis and Evaluation
    • Mina Etezadi, Director, Indigenous, French Language and Priority Populations
  • Michael Hillmer, Assistant Deputy Minister, Digital and Analytics Strategy
    • Kamil Malikov, Director, Health Data Science
    • Aileen Chan, Director, Health Data
    • Jennifer Bridge, Director, Health Analytics and Insights
    • Neeta Sarta, Director, Digital Health Program
    • Christine Sham, Director, Information Management Strategy and Policy
  • Alison Blair, Associate Deputy Minister, Health Integration and Partnerships
    • Rhonda McMichael, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Partnerships
      • Jenarra DeSouza, Director, Home and Community Care
      • Taryn Pimento, Director, Project Management Office
      • Allison Costello, Director, Ontario Health Teams Policy and Operations
        • Taryn Pimento, Director, Ontario Health Agency Oversight
    • Susan Picarello, Assistant Deputy Minister, Emergency Health Services
      • James Romain, Director, Emergency Health Program Management and Delivery
      • Adam Langley, Director, Emergency Health Regulatory and Accountability
    • Kyle MacIntyre, Assistant Deputy Minister, Mental Health and Addictions
      • Rachel Robins, Director, Mental Health and Addictions Policy, Accountability and Provincial Partnership
      • Mary Mannella, Director, Mental Health and Addiction Programs
  • Catherine Wang, Associate Deputy Minister, Clinical Care and Delivery
    • Patrick Dicerni, ADM, Health Programs and Delivery, General Manager of OHIP, and Executive Officer of Drugs
      • Angie Wong, Director, Drug Programs Policy and Strategy
      • David Schachow, Director, Delivery and Eligibility Review
      • Rob Acheson, Director, Claims Services
      • Laura Pinkney, Director, Health Insurance
      • Lilly Whitham, Director, Laboratories and Diagnostics
    • Teresa Buchanan, ADM, Physician and Provider Services
      • Renée Mahalanobis, Director, Physician Relations and Contract Oversight
      • Chris Harold, Director, Primary Health Care
      • Julie Ingo, Director, Provider Services
      • Nicole Williams, Director, Provider Negotiations Management
    • Danielle Jane, Assistant Deputy Minister, Hospitals and Capital
      • Jenny Catton, Director, Health Sector Models
      • Laurie Bourne, Director, Hospitals
      • Kristin Taylor, Director, Provincial Programs
    • David Reeder, Director, Heath Capital Operations
    • Andrew Mukoma, Director, Health Capital Policy & Planning

Appendix

2024–2025 Annual Report

Investing over $1.8 billion in primary care

In January 2025, Ontario announced it was investing $1.8 billion to connect two million more people to publicly funded primary care in the next four years, achieving the government’s goal of connecting everyone in Ontario to a family doctor or primary care team. This investment includes $1.4 billion in new funding, alongside more than $400 million in already-approved funding for primary care. The investments will be delivered through Dr. Jane Philpott’s Primary Care Action Plan, to build a primary care system that draws on best-in-class models from across the province and connects everyone to a family doctor or primary care team.

The Primary Care Action Plan will implement a broad series of initiatives, including but not limited to:

• Creating and expanding up to 305 additional teams to attach approximately two million people to primary care.
• Be the first jurisdiction in Canada to introduce primary care legislation outlining what people in Ontario can expect when accessing care.
• Regular public updates on progress and performance.
• Attaching everyone on the Health Care Connect waitlist (as of January 1, 2025) to primary care by Spring 2026.
• Enhance digital tools for providers and patients, reducing administrative burden and improving patient navigation and access to personal health information.
• Introduce targeted strategies to recruit and retain the workforce needed to support primary care providers and teams.
• Add and expand the number of community-based primary care teaching clinics.

Health workforce

Establishing York University’s new medical school

In 2024, Ontario provided an initial investment of $9 million to begin the design and planning for York University’s new medical school in Vaughan. The new medical school will be the first in Canada that is focused on training primary care doctors and is helping fulfill Ontario’s commitment to ensure that everyone in the province who wants to have a primary care provider can access one.

This new medical school will include up to 80 undergraduate seats and up to 102 postgraduate seats starting in September 2028, with up to 240 undergraduate seats and 293 postgraduate seats on an annual basis once operating at full capacity.

The government also announced that starting in fall 2026, new legislative and regulatory changes will, if passed, require all Ontario medical schools to allocate at least 95 per cent of all undergraduate medical school seats to residents of Ontario, with the other five per cent reserved for students from the rest of Canada.

$500 million investment in specialized education and training for nurses

The government is bringing more nurses into the health-care system, announcing an investment of more than $500 million over three years to provide health-care students training opportunities to work in hospitals and gain practical experience as they continue their education and provide internationally educated nurses the opportunity to complete their evidence of practice and language proficiency requirements for licensure. This is providing more than 20,000 health-care learners the opportunity to work in hospitals and home and community care organizations by the end of 2027.

The province has also been working with the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) to reduce barriers for internationally educated nurses, allowing them to register to work in Ontario faster and start caring for Ontarians sooner. As of April 1, 2025, internationally educated nurses can move through the CNO registration process faster. Internationally educated registered nurses who have a baccalaureate degree and registered practical nurses who have a diploma will no longer need to go through the lengthy education assessment step in the registration process, saving them up to $7,500 and allowing them to start practising in Ontario sooner.

First new university nursing program in 20 years

To help build a stronger health-care workforce, Ontario is establishing a new Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Carleton University in Ottawa, that will begin in September 2025.

This program will be the first new, university-based nursing program in Ontario in 20 years, graduating more than 200 new nurses each year, and helping to maintain and expand the province’s nursing workforce. In partnership with Queensway Carleton Hospital, nursing students enrolled in the Carleton University program will have the unique opportunity to receive hands-on training during their course of study, from their very first semester.

Upskilling ED nurses

Ontario invested $10 million to help more than 1,000 nurses upskill their training to provide emergency department care. This will help bolster, stabilize, and maintain the nursing workforce in emergency departments across the province, especially in rural and remote hospitals. The province is providing access to two training and education programs — Virtual Training Modules and the Specialty Training Fund to provide training education grants for nurses.

Expanding the Learn and Stay Grant to train more family doctors

The government is further breaking down barriers for Ontario students to become family doctors by expanding to the Learn and Stay grant (funded through the Ministry of Colleges and Universities) to include family medicine. Starting in 2026, the government is investing an estimated $88 million over three years to expand Learn and Stay grants for 1,360 eligible undergraduate students that commit to practice family medicine with a full roster of patients once they graduate.

It is estimated the total investment will enable the connection of an additional 1.36 million people to primary care based on average attachment rates for family doctors. Learn and Stay Grant funding will cover all tuition and other direct educational costs like books, supplies, and equipment in exchange for a term of service as a physician in any community across Ontario.

As of March 2025, 8,000 learners in eligible nursing, paramedicine or medical lab technology programs have received funding through the grant to help pay for their postsecondary education, which is helping to bring in-demand health-care workers to underserved communities across the province.

Adding family doctors in rural and northern communities

Through the Practice Ready Ontario program, the government continued to create new pathways to connect more people to primary care by breaking down barriers for 100 internationally trained family physicians to practice medicine in a rural or northern community in 2025. Through this program, foreign-trained doctors can become licensed more quickly and connect an additional 120,000 people to care.

Each internationally educated physician who participates in the program is required to complete a 12-week assessment to ensure they have the skills and competencies needed to practice in Ontario. This includes training in all aspects of rural family medicine across a variety of practice settings, including an office, hospital, emergency department, and long-term care and home care settings. The program also requires physicians to complete a three-year return of service as a family doctor in a rural or northern community.

Ontario expanding the role of nurse practitioners and registered nurses

The government announced upcoming regulation changes that will expand the scopes of practice for nurse practitioners and registered nurses. These expansions will enable them to provide a broader range of services across various health-care settings including hospitals, interprofessional primary care teams, and long-term care homes.

Starting July 1, 2025, nurse practitioners will be able to order and apply additional forms of energy to treat heart conditions using defibrillation, cardiac pacemaker therapy and transcutaneous cardiac pacing. Also, nurse practitioners will be able to order and apply electrocoagulation which can be used to treat skin conditions and lesions, among other uses. Nurse practitioners will be able to certify deaths in all circumstances and registered nurses will be able to certify deaths when the death is expected.

Exploring more ways to expand the role of pharmacists

Ontario is looking at additional innovative and creative ways to make pharmacies a one-stop-shop for people to conveniently connect to care. In September 2024, the government held consultations with health system partners and the public to explore authorizing pharmacists to prescribe for a possible 14 additional minor ailments, such as sore throat and other scope of practice expansions such as order laboratory tests to support the minor ailment program. Consultations also sought feedback on pharmacy technicians administering additional vaccines (for example, shingles), a publicly funded adult vaccine program, and current issues and opportunities to improve the MedChecks program.

Furthermore, the ministry is exploring opportunities to implement expanded access to drug therapy in the community to support opioid-use disorder treatment, especially in pharmacies, by authorizing pharmacists to administer injectable treatments for opioid use disorder.

Enabling midwives to prescribe and administer more medications

In May 2024, Ontario expanded the list of drugs that midwives can prescribe and administer for the first time since 2010. This expansion includes additional routine vaccinations, treatment for nausea, vomiting and acid reflux, labour management, birth control and management of labour pain in a hospital setting. Midwives are required to demonstrate appropriate education to support certain changes (such as safe administration of opioids and insertion of intrauterine devices).

New registration and oversight for personal support workers and physician assistants

As of December 1, 2024, personal support workers (PSWs) may register with the new Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority. Registrants of the Oversight Authority have met educational requirements and are subject to a Code of Ethics, which supports patient confidence and helps PSWs grow as a profession. Several registration pathways have been established including a time-limited (until Dec. 1, 2027) transitional pathway that allows PSWs who gained their competencies on the job to register with the Oversight Authority.

Regulating behaviour analysts and physician assistants

On July 1, 2024, the Psychology and Applied Behaviour Analysis Act, 2021, was proclaimed into law. Behaviour Analysts in the province are now accountable to the public, through their regulatory College, for their professional behaviour and activities. Behaviour analysts must meet professional entry requirements, adhere to prescribed standards, guidelines, and ethical principles, and participate in quality assurance activities to continually update and improve their knowledge and skill.

Also, as of April 1, 2025, physician assistants are regulated under the Medicine Act, 1991, and all physician assistants must be registered with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario in order to practise. Similar to behaviour analysts, physician assistants must meet professional entry requirements, adhere to prescribed standards, guidelines and ethical principles, and participate in quality assurance activities to continually update and improve their knowledge and skill.

Provider services

Expanding the Ontario Fertility Program

The government is investing $150 million over two years to expand the Ontario Fertility Program to cut waitlists and triple the number of families connecting to government-funded in vitro fertilization (IVF) services in hospital and community clinic settings. This includes giving patients more options where they can access publicly funded fertility services by expanding the program to more clinics.

New funding agreement for midwives

The province and the Association of Ontario Midwives (AOM) announced a new interim funding agreement starting April 2024. This interim agreement includes an investment of more than $15 million to increase compensation and help connect people to midwifery services. Ontario continues to work with the AOM to support midwifery in Ontario and ensure that midwives can continue to provide high-quality care to families and newborns across the province.

Reducing wait times for MRI / CT scans and GI endoscopy procedures

In 2024, the government launched a call for applications for new community surgical and diagnostic centres to provide 100,000 more MRI and CT scans and approximately 60,000 gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy additional procedures each year. Both calls are now complete with licensing decisions expected in 2025. The ministry also completed a webinar to notify the sector about a planned call for applications for Orthopedic services in the community. This is the next step to reduce wait times and make it easier and faster for people to connect to publicly funded surgeries and procedures.

New primary clinic for Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn

Ontario is investing up to $3.9 million to support the construction of a new, permanent primary care clinic for the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn Indigenous Primary Health Care Organization (IPHCO). Located on the Pikwàkanagàn Reserve on Golden Lake and Bonnechere River in Renfrew County, the IPHCO’s new site will add more accessible space for care, connecting over 1,000 people to primary care with improved access to community-based, responsive services.

Expanding geriatric services

The province is investing more than $4.1 million over two years to expand GeriMedRisk to connect more seniors living with complex medical needs to more coordinated dementia care and other supports. GeriMedRisk connects primary care providers with an interdisciplinary team of geriatric specialists that help create and support care plans and specialized care for seniors. This additional funding will support up to 21 additional geriatric specialists and pharmacists to provide more than 1,000 additional consults annually.

Investing in community stroke rehabilitation care

Ontario is investing $15 million to help health service providers across the province expand their Community Stroke Rehabilitation services and connect an additional 1,400 people to the care they need. Community Stroke Rehabilitative care connects people who have experienced a stroke with occupational therapy, speech therapy, physiotherapy, and other professional services to aid in their recovery.

Expanding the Northern Health Travel Grant Program

Through a $45 million investment over three years, the province is expanding the Northern Health Travel Grant Program that helps cover the medical-related costs Northern Ontario residents can incur when travelling to access OHIP-insured health-care services. Starting in December 2024, expansions and improvements to the program include increased financial reimbursements for overnight trips to better reflect people’s needs, eliminating the need for a signature from a referring health-care provider, adding more eligible health-care providers and more facility locations, and removing the 100-kilometre deductible. The ministry will also introduce a more convenient online application form that makes reimbursement faster in 2025.

Helping family doctors put patients before paperwork

The government is taking further action to help family doctors and other primary care providers spend more time with their patients and less time on paperwork. The province is making changes that encourage employers to use other tools instead of sick notes, such as attestations. An innovative program showed that 150 primary care providers who used artificial intelligence to automatically summarise or transcribe conversations with patients reported spending at least 70% less time on paperwork, enabling them to spend more time on patient care.

Expanding Ontario Breast Screening Program

In October 2024, Ontario lowered the age of self-referral to mammograms to 40, connecting more women to life-saving screening sooner. Women over the age of 40 can now self-refer for publicly funded mammograms through the Ontario Breast Screening Program. The expansion of this program, supported by a provincial investment of nearly $20 million, will give an additional one million women the option to connect to important screening services to detect and treat breast cancer sooner.

Human papillomavirus test launched in the Ontario Cervical Screening Program

In March 2025, human papillomavirus (HPV) testing was introduced as the primary test in screening and as a follow-up test in colposcopy in the Ontario Cervical Screening Program (OCSP). HPV testing has a higher sensitivity, which means it is better at detecting cervical pre-cancer or cancer than cytology (pap) testing alone. In March 2025, HPV self-collection was launched at 10 primary care sites across Ontario.

New treatment for advanced-stage prostrate cancer

Ontario was the first Canadian jurisdiction to publicly fund and administer PLUVICTO™ a new treatment for advanced-stage prostate cancer, which is now covered under the province’s publicly funded radioligand program. The province is working with hospital partners to implement PLUVICTO™ as a standard treatment for those with advanced-stage prostate cancer, to make it available for eligible patients at most of Ontario’s Cancer Treatment Centres.

Hospitals / health-care facilities

Supporting local hospitals and health-care facilities

The Ontario government has continued to invest in local hospitals and health-care facilities:

• Belleville and Quinte West Community Health Centre — Ontario is expanding services at the new Belleville and Quinte West Community Health Centre. With the province’s support, the second phase of the Trenton Satellite Project will expand the Centre, allowing it to provide more services including allied health services, immunization services, health education, mental health and addictions support, and home and community care.
• Brantford General Hospital — The government is investing nearly $16 million to complete critical upgrades and repairs at Brantford General Hospital. The repairs will address the hospital’s damaged utility services tunnel and help the hospital replace and upgrade three boilers.
• Burlington, Joseph Brant Hospital — Ontario is connecting more people in Burlington to mental health care by investing in a new mental health unit at the Joseph Brant Hospital. Once completed, the new unit will have a larger, state-of-the-art space for inpatient and outpatient services, allowing for better patient-centred care.
• Cambridge Memorial Hospital — The redevelopment of Cambridge Memorial Hospital has been completed, supported by the province’s investment of over $220 million. Over 400,000 square feet of hospital space was renovated and redeveloped to build a new patient care tower. The new, state-of-the-art facility will increase the hospital’s ability to care for more people by over 30% and improve care for patients undergoing life-saving surgery or requiring emergency care.
• Centre de santé communautaire de Timmins — The government provided $16.7 million to support the implementation of the Centre de santé communautaire de Timmins New Build project, resulting in a new health-care facility for the Francophone community in Timmins and the surrounding area, to be completed in July 2025.
• Collingwood General and Marine Hospital — Ontario is investing up to $95.5 million to plan for a new Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, that will create a larger, state-of-the-art space to expand services and ensure the hospital can continue to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community into the future. This new hospital will include up to 98 beds with 34 additional shelled spaces and will expand access to key services, including intensive care, emergency, diagnostic imaging, and operating suites.
• Hamilton Health Sciences’ Juravinski Hospital — Ontario is investing $10 million to support the redevelopment of Hamilton Health Sciences’ Juravinski Hospital to connect people in the Hamilton area to better, more modern specialized adult health-care services. This investment builds on the $7.5 million the government has previously invested to support the redevelopment of the hospital. Through this redevelopment, Juravinski Hospital will become the largest inpatient hospital facility in south central Ontario, with more than 500 inpatient beds.
• Hamilton Reactivation Care Centre — Construction is underway to build a new Reactivation Care Centre in Hamilton. The new facility, in partnership with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Science, will provide people who no longer require hospital care with restorative and specialty care. The province is investing more than $16 million to build the new centre, which will include 57 transitional care beds to connect people to a variety of reactivation care needs, including complex care, dementia care services and behavioural support services.
• Kawartha Lakes, Ross Memorial Hospital — Ontario is investing in renovating and expanding Ross Memorial Hospital’s emergency department, which includes the creation of a new, state-of-the-art mental health emergency services unit and a new trauma room for patients needing life-saving care. The Ministry of Health is working with Ross Memorial Hospital to complete early planning and design for this project.
• Kenora Aboriginal Health Access Centre — Ontario is investing over $28 million to support the construction of the new Waasegiizhig Nanaandawe’iyewigamig Aboriginal Health Access Centre in downtown Kenora, connecting more Indigenous people and families to community-led primary care services. The new and modernized facility will enhance timely access to Indigenous-led health care and reduce unnecessary emergency department visits at Lake of the Woods District Hospital.
• Kenora, Lake of the Woods District Hospital — The government is improving access to diagnostic imaging services and reducing wait times in Kenora by investing up to $7.6 million to build a state-of-the art Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) suite and support the operations of the MRI suite at Lake of the Woods District Hospital, to support the first-ever MRI machine in Kenora.
• Leamington, Erie Shores HealthCare — The government is improving access to diagnostic imaging services and reducing wait times by investing $1.3 million for a new MRI machine at Erie Shores HealthCare. Leamington’s first-ever MRI machine will ensure people across Essex County will no longer have to travel to a hospital outside of their community to connect to diagnostic services. Ontario will also provide additional annual funding of more than $540,000 to double the hours of operation of the MRI suite.
• London Health Sciences Centre — The province is supporting the expansion of the Nazem Kadri Surgical Centre at London Health Sciences Centre. The Nazem Kadri Surgical Centre will be renovated and expanded to build four new operating rooms, bringing the total number to six, and create additional support spaces for patient preparation and recovery before and after surgery.
• Mount Sinai Hospital — Mount Sinai Hospital has completed the largest redevelopment project in its history, supported by the province’s $383 million investment. Over 323,000 square feet of hospital space was renovated to build a new and expanded emergency department, operating rooms, and intensive care unit, providing a new, more modern space to improve care for patients undergoing life-saving surgery, requiring emergency care, and for those with cancer.
• Orangeville, Headwaters Health Care Centre — Ontario is supporting the renovation and expansion of the emergency and diagnostic imaging departments at Headwaters Health Care Centre.
• Peel Memorial — William Osler Health System has broken ground on one of the new Early Works projects to support the new Peel Memorial Hospital, which will add new and enhanced services in state-of-the-art facilities, such as a 24-hour emergency care centre. Ontario has invested nearly $46.8 million in capital planning funding to plan and build the new hospital.
• Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital — Construction is underway to build the new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital in Picton, which has been supported by $10 million in capital funding to date. The new hospital will include improved equipment and facilities such as a 24-hour emergency department, modern surgical suites and outpatient care services including minor surgical procedures.
• Scarborough Health Network — The government is connecting more people in Scarborough to life-sustaining renal care closer to home by investing nearly $15 million to add 27 new hemodialysis stations at Scarborough Health Network’s (SHN) General and Centenary sites. SHN’s Regional Nephrology Program offers hemodialysis treatment for more than 6,000 patients every year and is one of 26 Regional Multi-Care Kidney Disease clinics in Ontario.
• St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton — Ontario is supporting the redevelopment of St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s Special Care Nursery, to connect more newborns and their families in the Hamilton area to better, specialized neonatal intensive care and birthing support.
• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre — A new centre for brain science at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has been completed, supported by the province’s $60 million investment. The state-of-the-art Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre is dedicated to brain science research and care, and connecting those with complex brain disorders and illnesses to interdisciplinary health-care teams, including psychiatry, neurology, imaging, neurosurgery, and geriatric medicine.
• Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre — The government has invested up to $9.3 million to support the expansion of Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre’s cancer care services, connecting more people in Northwestern Ontario to life-saving radiation therapy, closer to home. The province is also investing in the building of a new emergency mental health and addictions assessment and observation area at the hospital so it is better equipped to deliver responsive and comprehensive care to those in crisis.
• Waterloo Region Acute Care Hospital — The University of Waterloo has been chosen as the site for the new state-of-the-art hospital being built for Waterloo Region in partnership with the Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN). WRHN is the result of the amalgamation of St. Mary’s General Hospital and Grand River Hospital. The government has invested $5 million to support the early planning and construction of the new hospital that will expand services and add more beds.
• Waterloo Region Hospital — The University of Waterloo has been chosen as the site for the new state-of-the-art hospital being built for Waterloo Region in partnership with St. Mary’s General Hospital and Grand River Hospital. The government has invested $5 million to support the early planning and construction of the new hospital that will expand services and add more beds.
• Windsor Regional Hospital — The government is investing up to $31 million to support the renovation and expansion of Windsor Regional Hospital’s cardiac catheterization lab, connecting more people in Southwestern Ontario to life-saving cardiac care. The new and modernized catheterization lab suite will have a larger space, a second catheterization table, and 24-hour service. Construction began in the summer of 2024 and is expected to be completed in July 2026.

Emergency health

Investing in land ambulances

In 2024, the government invested over $910 million to increase the availability of ambulances across the province. This included an investment of over $877 million in land ambulance funding to municipalities representing an increase of 8% from 2023. In addition, Ontario also invested over $33 million through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to help hospitals hire more nurses and other eligible health professionals that are dedicated to offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments. This program has played a significant role in reducing ambulance offload times, which have been often reduced by more than 50% since their peak in October 2022.

Expanding Ornge Air Ambulance

To better connect people in northern, rural, and Indigenous communities to the care they need, the province is investing $93 million to expand Ornge Air Ambulance’s fleet by adding two larger, high speed fixed wing aircraft, constructing a new hangar in Simcoe County, hiring more frontline staff, and improving pre-hospital care in remote Indigenous communities.

Building Ontario’s first AED registry

The Ontario government is making it faster and easier for people to access lifesaving defibrillators by selecting the AED Foundation of Ontario to build the province’s first AED registry of publicly accessible AED locations across Ontario. The registry will increase access to lifesaving care for people experiencing cardiac emergencies and will also ensure Ambulance Communications Officers can direct 9-1-1 callers to the nearest AEDs to provide critical interventions to those experiencing cardiac arrest while paramedics are enroute.

Palliative care

Expanding access to community end-of-life care with 96 new hospice beds

In 2024, the government announced it is investing up to $19.75 million in capital funding to build 84 new adult hospice beds and 12 new pediatric hospice beds. In September 2024, an Expression of Interest was released for the new adult hospice beds, which are expected to be operational by 2027. As part of this expansion, 15 beds have been funded in 2024–2025.

Supporting the first Indigenous hospice in Canada

Ontario is investing up to $1.25 million to support the construction of Six Nations of the Grand River’s new five-bed hospice which will help Indigenous people, and their loved ones connect to comfortable, culturally appropriate end-of-life care, close to home. The new hospice will be constructed on Six Nations of the Grand River and will be the first Indigenous-led hospice in in any First Nation across Canada.

New children’s hospice in Hamilton Region

By investing up to $2.5 million to support the construction of Kemp Care Network’s new 10 bed children’s hospice, the province is helping families connect to end-of-life care, close to home, in the Hamilton region. Keaton’s House – Paul Paletta Children’s Hospice is expected to open in 2026.

Adding hospice beds in the Ottawa Region

Ontario is investing $2.75 million over two years to increase access to comfortable and dignified end-of-life care in the Ottawa region. This investment will add eight new adult hospice beds at Hospice Care Ottawa’s La Maison de l’Est, and two new pediatric hospice beds at Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice located at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. These two beds were part of the 12 pediatric bed expansion noted above. La Maison de l’Est is also building partnerships within the Francophone community to connect families to culturally appropriate palliative care services.

Supporting new hospice centre in Mississauga

The government is investing up to $2.5 million to support the construction of Hospice Mississauga’s new 12-bed hospice centre. When complete, the new hospice will be the first hospice centre in Mississauga and will provide end-of-life care to people and families living in Mississauga and Brampton.

Mental health and addictions

Creating Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs

The government is helping create safer communities and supporting people struggling with addiction and mental health issues by investing almost $550 million to create a total of 28 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs across the province, nine more than initially planned. The province has also banned drug injection sites from operating within 200 metres of schools and licensed child-care centres.

HART Hubs will connect people with complex service needs to comprehensive treatment and preventative services, including mental health services, addictions care, primary care, social services, and employment support. HART Hubs will also add an estimated 560 highly supportive housing units, in addition to addiction recovery and treatment beds, helping thousands of people each year transition to more stable long-term housing.

Launching new Youth Wellness Hubs

The Ontario government is making it faster and easier for young people aged 12 to 25 to connect to integrated mental health, substance use, and primary care as well as other services by launching additional Youth Wellness Hubs across the province:

• Brampton / Peel Region — Peel Children’s Aid Society is leading the co-design of the new hub with youth and community partners, to ensure diverse youth voices and unique needs of Indigenous, First Nations and Black youth are at the centre of the design and planning for the hub model. Other services that will be provided through the hub include education, employment, housing, and access to community programs.
• Oxford County — In addition to mental health, substance use and primary care services, the hub will also provide access to community and social supports, employment services, and supports for newcomers. Rural communities in the area will also be supported by a mobile hub model.
• Port Hope and surrounding areas — This hub will connect youth and their families in Northumberland County and Alderville First Nation to convenient services in a safe, youth-friendly space. Rural communities in the area will also be supported by a mobile hub model, making it easier for youth to drop in for in-person counselling or peer support close to their home.
• Thunder Bay — Children’s Centre Thunder Bay is leading the co-design of the new hub with local youth, community partners and Indigenous service providers. The hub will be a culturally appropriate space that offers traditional cultural teachings and supports for Indigenous youth and their families.

These are part of the 10 new hubs that the government is adding to the network of 22 Youth Wellness Hubs already opened since 2020, bringing the total to 32 across the province.

Investing in new mobile crisis response teams

The government is investing up to $8 million over three years through the Addictions Recovery Fund for three pilot mobile crisis response teams in Lambton County, Simcoe County and Thunder Bay. These innovative pilot programs will help expand access to specialized care in the community, avoiding unnecessary visits to emergency department and police involvement, and make it easier for people experiencing homelessness or mental health and addictions crisis to get the support they need.

Community paramedicine and mental health crisis workers will provide immediate mental health and addictions support and options for ongoing care. This includes on-scene interventions and de-escalation, referrals to treatment, community mental health supports, housing and other support agencies, and early intervention or follow-up care, among other supports.

Boosting funding in mental health services for Black and 2SLGBTQIA+ youth

Ontario is investing an additional $12.5 million to connect Black children, youth, and their families, as well as 2SLGBTQIA+ youth to mental health services. This funding is part of the government’s investment of an additional $330 million each year in pediatric health services at hospitals and community-based health-care facilities. This investment will help to expand and improve community programs and services delivered by more than 25 organizations across the province.

In addition, Ontario continues to support AMANI (formerly known as the Substance Abuse Program for African Caribbean Canadian Youth [SAPACCY]), through Roadmap to Wellness and the investment in pediatric health services. AMANI is a mental health and substance use program that provides a wide range of culturally safe services and supports to Black youth and their families. Originally based at CAMH, the program has been expanded to seven satellite sites in Etobicoke, Hamilton, North York, Peel, Ottawa, Scarborough, and Windsor, with two additional sites to be named under development.

Step-up step-down specialized care for youth

The Ontario government is investing $2.5 million each year in specialized mental health care for youth in London, Owen Sound, Sudbury, and Waterloo. This investment will enable the creation of a new step-up step-down live-in treatment program that supports youth in their transition home from inpatient hospital or secure treatment care, or to less intensive community-based services.

Expanding access to early psychosis intervention

Ontario is partnering with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to expand access to the Provincial Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) Program, supported by a $19 million investment. The Provincial EPI program will connect more people aged 14 to 35 who are experiencing early phase psychosis to evidence-based, standardized care.

Investing in supportive housing in Guelph

Ontario is investing $9 million to connect more than 100 additional people in the Guelph and Wellington areas to supportive housing and high-quality mental health and addictions support services. This investment will support Stonehenge Therapeutic Community and Guelph Community Health Centre’s new Shelldale facility to support individuals who experience chronic homelessness, and high‐needs supportive housing residents at Grace Gardens, Wyndam House, and Delhi St transitional home.

Building a new mental health hub in Newmarket

The government is making it easier for people in York Region to connect to comprehensive mental health and addictions services by building a new mental health hub in Newmarket, which will bring together partners including hospitals, primary care, community providers, and first responders to connect people to the care they need sooner. The province will continue to support the project’s design and construction, building on the previous investment of $200,000 to support the early planning of the hub.

Investing in safe sobering beds in Thunder Bay

By investing over $2.9 million in 15 safe sobering beds in Thunder Bay, the province is making it easier for people under the influence of substances to access a safe place to sleep and get the care they need. This funding for the St. Joseph’s Care Group provides people with trauma informed addictions treatment in their community, avoiding unnecessary visits to emergency departments and police involvement.

Building the Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Centre of Excellence

The government is investing in the construction of Runnymede Healthcare Centre’s Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Centre of Excellence for First Responders. This new funding builds on the $10.7 million the government previously invested to support early capital planning for Runnymede Healthcare Centre’s two new facilities. The Centre will expand access to comprehensive mental health and rehabilitation treatment for first responders affected by work-related stress or trauma, including post-traumatic stress injury.

Ontario Intensive Treatment Pathway

The government is investing up to $22 million to develop The Ontario Intensive Treatment Pathway (OITP). OITP is a new community-based intensive service model that will facilitate improved access to new and existing services for children and youth with complex mental health needs. This initiative will create regional treatment networks that will be responsible for delivering and managing access to a coordinated system of intensive treatment to children and youth within their geographic service area, establish provincial quality standards for live-in treatment and address long-standing treatment gaps in the community.

One Stop Talk / Parlons maintenant

The province is providing $3.96 million in annualized funding to support One Stop Talk / Parlons maintenant, an innovative virtual walk-in mental health counselling service. One Stop Talk / Parlons maintenant provides low barrier, virtual access to brief, in the moment, counselling services for children and youth to help address growing service wait-times, as well as inequitable access to service across the province.

Complex Transition Fund

$2 million in annualized funding to the Complex Transition Fund, which provides short term, flexible support for children and youth with complex mental health needs up the age of 18 as they transition into or out of community-based live-in treatment programs.

Drug programs

New bilateral agreement on drugs for rare diseases

The Ministry of Health successfully negotiated funding under the federal government’s National Strategy for Drugs for Rare Diseases to improve access to drugs and diagnostics for people living with rare diseases in Ontario. This three-year agreement provides nearly $180 million annually building on the ministry’s investment of almost $600 million in 2023–2024 to provide access to 49 drugs for rare diseases through its publicly funded drug programs.

Faster access to new drugs

The ministry expanded funding for Trikafta, under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, to include Cystic Fibrosis patients with over 150 different rare mutations with zero time to listing in November 2024. The clinical and cost-effectiveness review by Canada’s Drug Agency, the pan-Canadian negotiations, and the ministry’s work to complete a product listing agreement and implement the funding were successfully completed concurrently to expedite access for patients, many of which are children. Trikafta is the first drug that targets the cause of Cystic Fibrosis compared to previous treatments that managed symptoms of the disease.

The ministry co-led the development and successful launch in April 2024 of a new pan-Canadian pathway to speed up funding of high priority drugs while clinical trials are still in progress. A new evidence review, called the Time-Limited Recommendation (TLR), is followed by a new negotiation process, called the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance Temporary Access Process (pTAP). Ontario led the negotiations for the first product through the new process. The drug for cancer treatment was funded in 60 days instead of over 200 days.

Biosimilars

In 2024–2025, the ministry implemented a regular process for transitioning biosimilars twice annually and added six new biosimilars. Ontario is the only province to have an ongoing process to expedite the use of new biosimilars. This policy funds highly similar and equally effective and safe versions of expensive biologic drugs, while providing the same clinical benefits for patients. This saves the government over $100 million per year, allowing more new innovative drug therapies to be funded under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program.

Public health

Immunization

In Fall 2024, in addition to expanding eligibility for the high-risk older adult RSV vaccine program, Ontario launched the infant and high-risk children RSV prevention program, connecting more infants, pregnant people, high-risk children and high-risk older adults to RSV immunizations that can help protect them and their loved ones during respiratory illness season, alongside the fall COVID-19 and influenza vaccination programs.

Seniors dental care and affordable prescription drugs

In August 2024, the annual income eligibility thresholds for the Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program and the Seniors Co-Payment Program were increased for single Ontarians aged 65 and over from $22,200 to $25,000, and from $37,100 to $41,500 for couples. The Ontario Seniors Dental Care Program connects approximately 100,000 low-income seniors to free, routine dental care each year. The Seniors Co-Payment Program helps keep costs down for low-income seniors who need prescription medications by reducing co-pays to $2 or less and removing annual deductibles.

Strengthening public health

To strengthen and expand the delivery of public health services, the government supported the voluntary mergers of nine public health units into the following four new organizations, effective January 2025:

• Grand Erie Health Unit
• Haliburton Kawartha Northumberland Peterborough Health Unit
• Northeastern Health Unit
• South East Health Unit

The ministry continues to work with public health partners to clarify the roles and responsibilities of public health units to build healthier communities across the province. This includes reviewing the Ontario Public Health Standards and amending public health regulations to align with current evidence and best practices and reduce burden on impacted stakeholders.

Emergency management

The Ministry of Health provided base funding through Ontario Health, to University Health Network and The Hospital for Sick Children, to establish a specialized, high-risk pathogen designated testing and treatment hospital and a pediatric mobile support team.

Ontario also provided $3 million in annual funding to support the Emergency Medical Assistance Team program, a mobile non-surgical field medical field unit that can be quickly deployed by the province during an emergency to support health-care facilities and communities across the province in a modular and scalable fashion.

Key performance indicators

The Ministry of Health is committed to delivering Ontario’s plan to connect Ontarians to convenient care by steadily implementing Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, which is built on three pillars: the right care in the right place, faster access to care and hiring more health-care workers. A key part of this plan is measuring the province’s progress through ministry-level key performance indicators as well as a diverse set of program-level measures.

These key performance indicators (KPIs) are related to government-directed and ministry-identified priorities. Listed below are six examples of KPIs that the ministry is tracking annually and the most recent performance results of each measure. The six illustrative ministry-level KPIs listed below enables tracking of progress towards strategic ministry outcomes and priorities, such as ending hallway health-care, timely access to essential surgical services, Alternate Level of Care (ALC) rate, timely access to care for mental health patients in crisis, etc.

Outcome Measure #1 – Ending Hallway Health Care

The ministry is working to end hallway health-care and ensure all patients receive timely access to high-quality hospital care. The target is to reduce this number to zero by expanding hospital capacity, improving patient flow, and ensuring patients receive care in the right setting at the right time.

Programs that contribute to the KPI result (only select programs included, as many contribute to this KPI)

• Hospitals
• Home Care
• Community Mental Health

Outcome Measure #2 – Reducing Alternative Level of Care

The ministry continues to work with Ontario Health and hospitals to reduce the ALC rate and expand hospital capacity. Since 2022–2023, the province provided funding to support the implementation of several ALC and Patient Flow initiatives such as capacity maximization, admission avoidance, discharge supports, home and community care, and the development of local strategies targeting ALC reductions across the province. These initiatives will continue into 2025–2026.

Programs that contribute to the KPI result (only select programs included, as many contribute to this KPI)

• Hospitals
• Home Care
• Community Mental Health

Outcome Measure #3 – Improving Timely Access to Care for Mental Health

The ministry is focused on reducing repeat emergency department (ED) visits among individuals with mental health or substance abuse conditions by improving system connections and supports. As of March 2024, the rate of repeat emergency department visits for mental health or substance abuse conditions was 26.2%, consistent with the previous year. The updated target reflects year-over-year trends, with a modest reduction to assess the potential impact of 2024–2025 investments.

Programs that contribute to the KPI result (only select programs included, as many contribute to this KPI)

• Community Mental Health
• Addiction
• Hospitals

Outcome Measure #4 – Timely Access to Essential Surgical Services

The ministry continues efforts to reduce surgical wait times. While progress has been made since wait lists peaked in 2022, and the numbers are trending downwards, wait times remain above pre-pandemic levels. The goal is to continue reducing this number through targeted investments and system-wide coordination.

Programs that contribute to the KPI result

• Integrated Community Health Services Centres
• OHIP

Outcome Measure #5 – Timely Access to Home Care Services

The ministry monitors wait times for home care to ensure patients receive timely access to services following a community referral. As of March 2024, the median wait time from community to first home care services was 7 days. The long-term goal is to return to the baseline of a 6-day median wait time, as experienced in 2018–2019. Achieving this target ensures that patients receive timely access to the necessary frontline home care services they need to remain safe and independent in their homes.

Programs that contribute to the KPI result

• Home Care
• Hospitals

Outcome Measure #6 – Strengthening and Rebuilding Health Human Resources

The ministry assesses the systemic vacancy rate as an indicator of staffing capacity and workforce stability across Ontario hospitals. This measure reflects the proportion of full-time equivalent (FTE) positions that remain unfilled for 90 days or more, relative to the total number of both vacant and filled FTE positions. As of July 2024, the systemic vacancy rate was 4.3%, representing an improvement from 6.0% in July 2023. A formal target for this indicator has not yet been established.

Programs that contribute to the KPI result

• Clinical Education
• OHIP
• Essential Population-Based Services and Applied Health System Research

Table 3: Ministry Interim Actual Expenditures 2024–2025