2025–2026 Minister of Health’s Primary Care Act Annual Report

Primary Care Overview

The Ontario government is making health care more convenient by connecting people to care closer to home.

Primary care is the foundation of a strong health-care system and is linked to better health outcomes, fewer hospital admissions, improved management of chronic conditions, and more inclusive access to services.

Through the launch of the Primary Care Action Plan, supported by a historic $3.4 billion investment, the Ministry of Health has committed to connect every Ontarian to ongoing primary care by 2029. This work is grounded in ensuring that every Ontarian can access high-quality primary care.

Primary Care Act, 2025

As part of the government’s Primary Care Action Plan, the Primary Care Act, 2025 received Royal Assent on June 5, 2025, making Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to establish a legislative framework for its publicly funded primary care system.

The Act sets out the government’s vision for primary care, ensuring that insured persons understand what they can expect when accessing services in Ontario.

The Act also requires the Minister of Health to publish an annual report outlining how the government is advancing its objectives through the design, implementation and ongoing management of the publicly funded primary care system.

Primary Care Act Objectives

Province-wide

Image

Every Ontario resident^{footnote 1[1]} across the province should have the opportunity to have ongoing access to a primary care clinician or team. 
 

Connected

Image

Every Ontario resident should have the opportunity to receive primary care that is coordinated with existing health and social services.
 

Convenient

Image

Every Ontario resident should have the opportunity to access timely primary care.

 

Inclusive

Image

Every Ontario resident should have the opportunity to receive primary care that is free from barriers and free from discrimination.
 

Empowered

Image

Every Ontario resident should have the opportunity to access their personal health information through a digitally integrated system that connects patients and clinicians in the circle of care.
 

Responsive

Image

The primary care system should respond to the needs of the communities it serves and everyone should have access to information about how the system is performing and adapting.
 

Progress

The ministry is making progress with ensuring every Ontarian is connected to primary care by 2029. Since the launch of the Primary Care Action Plan, the province has attached 345,000^{footnote 2[2]} people to care, exceeding its goal of attaching 300,000 Ontarians in the first year.

Interprofessional primary care teams, which include team members from two or more professions such as doctors, nurses, social workers and more, are working with local community partners. This improves local service coordination and delivery and helps to connect Ontarians to the different types of care they need.

Through the Primary Care Action Plan 2025–2026 call for proposals, the ministry funded five primary care teams led by Francophone providers and 13 new or expanded Indigenous Primary Health Care Organizations, with more to be funded in 2026–2027.

A key commitment in the Primary Care Action Plan was to clear the Health Care Connect waitlist as of January 1, 2025.

The ministry is investing in 18 primary care teaching clinics across the province to train the next generation of primary care clinicians. These clinics will also help connect approximately 300,000 more people to primary care and other services.

The ministry is expanding access to primary care in rural and northern communities with investments in primary care teams, improvements to physician funding for emergency department agreements connecting people to care year-round, and modernizing physician agreements that will give people more convenient access to primary care.

The ministry is advancing a new provincewide Primary Care Medical Record system that will integrate patient records, reduce paperwork for doctors and improve the quality of care received by patients.

The ministry is providing regular public updates and scaling investments in response to attachment gaps, including $3.4 billion for the Primary Care Action Plan, new calls for proposals, teaching clinic planning grants, and targeted workforce investments.

Primary Care Team Expansion Timelines

• February 2024: $110 million investment to fund 78 new and expanded primary care teams, connecting 328,000 people to care.
• January 2025: $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan released.*
• May 2025: Introduced Primary Care Act, 2025. Announced investment of $300 million into new and expanded primary care teaching clinics.
• June 2025: $235 million investment in 2025–26 to fund 75 proposals for 130 new and expanded primary care teams, attaching 300,000 people by July 2026.
• Spring 2026: Through the 2026 Budget, the province is increasing overall funding for the Primary Care Action Plan to a total of $3.4 billion between 2025 and 2029.
• Spring 2026: Plan announced to advance a new provincewide Primary Care Medical Record system that will integrate patient records, reduce paperwork for doctors and improve the quality of care received by patients.
• Spring 2026: $250 million investment in 2026–27 to fund 124 proposals for more than 190 new and expanded primary care teams, attaching 500,000 people by May 2027.

* The original investment was for $1.8 billion. Through additional investments in Budget 2025 and Budget 2026, the total investment into the Primary Care Action Plan has increased to $3.4 billion between 2025 and 2029.

More Ontarians Attached to Primary Care

Ontario leads the country in the percentage of people with regular access to a primary care provider or team and has made further progress with 345,000 people attached between January 1 and December 31, 2025. Ontario exceeded its goal of attaching 300,000 people to primary care in the first year of the Primary Care Action Plan.

* The percentage of insured persons in Ontario who have an ongoing relationship with a primary care clinician or team is 88.1%. 

Image

Attachment estimates are approximately one quarter behind due to data availability.