Bulletin 260307 — 2026 relativity adjusted physician payment increases

To: All Physicians
Category: Physician Services
Written by: Provider Services Branch, Physician and Provider Services Division
Date issued: April 1, 2026
Bulletin Number: 260307

Overview

The Ministry of Health (ministry) and the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) have been working together to implement physician compensation increases in accordance with the Arbitration Award for Year 3 of the 2024-2028 Physician Services Agreement (PSA).

Further to INFOBulletin 250406 - Relativity Adjusted Physician Payment Increases, effective April 1, 2026, physician fee-for-service payments and automated payments in the Medical Claims Payment System (example: capitation, premiums, and salaries) will receive a relativity-adjusted increase of 5.3700% for services provided between April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027. Please note, the relativity-adjusted increase is the compounded value of 2.8% for Year 2 (2025/26) and 2.5% for Year 3 (2026/27). This increase replaces the PSA Year 2 relativity-adjusted increase (9.9600%) that ended on March 31, 2026.

The value of Fee Schedule Codes (FSCs) listed in the Schedule of Benefits (Schedule) for claims in relation to the relativity increases has not changed. Please see INFOBulletin 260304 - Physician Services Agreement related fee schedule code adjustments for more information related to Year 3 Schedule increases or refer to the Schedule available on the Ministry of Health's website at OHIP Schedule of Benefits and fees under Schedule of Benefits for Physician Services for current FSC values.

Changes to the relativity-adjusted increases

The total compensation increase is 5.3700%, which represents the compounded value of 2.8% for Year 2 (2025/26) and 2.5% for Year 3 (2026/27). The distribution of the total compensation increase across physician specialties is subject to the relativity adjustments agreed to between the ministry and the OMA.

Relativity-adjusted payments will be made on the monthly Remittance Advice (RA), beginning on the May 2026 RA. Relativity-adjusted physician payment increases will be applied to all physician payments as set out in tables 1, 2, and 3.

Fee-for-service (FFS) payments and adjustments to automated payments (i.e. Age and Blended FFS Premiums, Comprehensive Care Capitation, etc.) related to fiscal year 2025/26, made after April 1, 2026, will continue to be paid using the previous relativity rates in effect for 2025/26.

Effective April 1, 2026, the base funding for Specialist Physician Alternative Payment Plan payments will be increased by a relativity-adjusted percent or other percent agreed to by the parties. It is expected that payments made to a group or facility will be distributed to the physicians who provided services for the period April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.

Compensation increases for physicians, physician groups or other facilities not flowed through the Medical Claims Payment System, such as those paid under contracts or under other programs, will be paid using the regular payment process associated with the contract or payment. It is expected that payments made to a group or facility will be distributed to the physicians who provided services for the period April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.

Changes to derived specialty

The derived specialty for fiscal year 2026/27 is assigned based on physician billings for fiscal year 2025/26. Derived specialty is the billing specialty associated with the claims for insured services submitted by the physician that had the highest total billings (paid and shadow billed). Note: Physicians who did not have claims in fiscal year 2025/26 will be assigned the 5.3700% (global rate) until claims are submitted in fiscal year 2026/27 and the accurate derived specialty can be determined.

Further to INFOBulletin 250406 - Relativity Adjusted Physician Payment Increases, the only change to the agreed upon methodology for determining derived specialty is that the Critical Care medicine specialty (11) will only be applied to physicians who receive a derived specialty of '11' based on their total claims for insured services submitted by the physician. The critical care per diem fee codes billed by physicians using a specialty other than '11' will no longer apply the critical care derived specialty as they did for the relativity-adjusted payments in fiscal year 2025/26.

Appeals process

The relativity-adjusted increases have been assigned based on the methodology agreed to between the ministry and the OMA in accordance with the Physician Services Agreement.

As such, the agreed-to methodology between the ministry and the OMA does not provide for an appeal process for physicians who received a relativity-adjusted increase and are disputing the amount of the increase that they received.

Appendix

Table 1 — Relativity-adjusted Increases by Specialty

The rates in the table below will be applied to a physician’s FFS billings (paid and shadow billed).

Table 2 — Relativity-adjusted Increase by Payment Type

The rates in the table below will be applied to the applicable payment type.

* in the table below indicates the individual physician’s derived specialty rate applies.

MS in the table below indicates the payment is a multispecialty contract, a weighted relativity adjustment has been calculated.

GB in the table below indicates the payment will receive the global increase rate.

Table 3 — '00' Physician Derived Specialty by Funding Model

The rates in the table below will be applied to a '00' physician’s FFS billings (paid and shadow billed).

'00' physicians whose derived specialty is Emergency Medicine will have those rates applied to their FFS billings.

Keywords/Tags

PSA; payments; physicians; Physician Services Agreement; relativity

Contact information

Do you have questions about this INFOBulletin? Email the Service Support Contact Centre or call 1-800-262-6524. Hours of operation: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Monday to Friday, except holidays.