Ontario's healthcare system has received a boost from the federal government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined Ontario Premier Doug Ford at the King City campus of Seneca College on Friday to confirm a federal investment of $3.1 billion to hire more staff, improve access to family physicians, cut wait times in emergency departments and for surgeries, and enhance access to mental health support.
"Canadians value our universal public health care system, but recently this system hasn't been living up to its promise," said Trudeau. "That's why we're signing agreements with provinces and territories to help ensure Canadians can access reliable, timely, and safe health care."
Ford added that the investment is over ten years.
"Right across the province, we're making historic investments in health care to build more hospitals, bring on more doctors and nurses, expand home and community care, and reduce wait times," said Ford. "We look forward to continuing working with our federal partners to ensure Ontarians get the health care they need and deserve."
The province will begin hiring nurses and personal support workers (PSWs). Enrollment spaces in healthcare education programs across Ontario will be increased by 700, including 70 in northern Ontario alone.
The funding is also designed to remove some barriers for international healthcare professionals to be certified in Canada, and expanding of electronic health information.
The province will also add five new Youth Wellness Hubs to help young people find support for mental health and substance abuse issues, increasing the provincewide total to 27.
Reconciliation efforts are also part of the agreement, with contributions being made to Ontario's Support for Indian Residential Schools Burials Funding program, providing culturally safe mental health support to survivors of residential schools, families, and communities.
Ontario's opposition has weighed in on Friday's announcement. NDP Health Critic France Gelinas said it has taken too long.
"It’s about time that this deal was signed," said Gelinas. "Conservatives have starved our healthcare system of resources and have a habit of redirecting public healthcare dollars into the pockets of wealthy insiders. We don’t have enough clarity on how this federal money will be distributed, and I am concerned that there are no specifications on how Conservatives can spend this vital funding."
The Ontario Nursing Association (ONA) stated Friday that the funding is welcome, but the group has also questioned Queens Park's priorities.
"Nurses welcome new federal funding for health care in Ontario, which is desperately needed in our public health care system," said ONA President Erin Ariss. "Yet the brutal truth is that our provincial government has withheld existing funds from the public system Ontarians treasure. Ford has failed to retain nurses and handed taxpayer dollars to private, for-profit corporations to perform non-urgent procedures."
