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Health & Healthcare

Health staffing platforms

Here's what the 2025 Ontario election parties are promising.

PC

  • Expand the scopes of practice for professions such as registered practical nurses, registered nurses, and physiotherapists

    "Further leverage the skills and expertise of Ontario pharmacists to continue making pharmacies a one-stop-shop for more convenient care closer to home, as well as continue to expand scopes of practice for other professions, such as registered practical nurses, registered nurses and physiotherapists, to deliver more connected and convenient care." — Our Plan to Protect Ontario, retrieved 2025-02-26

  • Allow health-care workers registered in other provinces and territories to immediately start work in Ontario without first registering here

    "Removing red tape and helping those who want to work in Ontario with new “As of Right” rules to become the first province in Canada to allow health-care workers registered in other provinces and territories to immediately start caring for you, without having to first register with one of Ontario’s health regulatory colleges." — Our Plan to Protect Ontario, retrieved 2025-02-26

ONDP

  • Legislate safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios

    "We will bring in safe nurse-patient ratios for better care and end the reliance on for-profit private nursing agencies that are costing hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

  • End reliance on private, for-profit nursing agencies
  • Establish a Northern Command Centre to manage health care worker capacity across the North

    "We will establish a Northern Command Centre to support recruitment, gather data on system capacity, and quickly identify emerging workforce issues." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

  • Increase the number of nurses, including hiring at least 15,000 nurses over the next three years
  • Increase funding to locum programs and opportunities for educational and targeted skills development in Northern Ontario

    "We will increase funding to locum programs and opportunities for educational and targeted skills development in northern Ontario, building local knowledge and a skillset suited for the unique challenges of medicine in remote communities." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

Liberal

  • Pay nurses, PSWs, and other supportive healthcare workers a living wage

    "Help hospitals hire and retain the staff they need by paying nurses, PSWs and other supportive healthcare workers a living wage and providing them with additional training and professional development opportunities to stay in the public system." — Getting the Basics Right: A Plan to Do More For You, retrieved 2025-02-22

  • Get rid of wage discrepancies between hospitals, in-home care, and long-term care

    "Eliminate wage discrepancy across the system, regardless of whether you work for a hospital, in-home care or in long-term care." — Getting the Basics Right: A Plan to Do More For You, retrieved 2025-02-22

  • Bring nurse practitioners into the public system and ban private-pay nurse practitioner clinics
  • Provide nurses, PSWs, and other supportive healthcare workers with additional training and professional development opportunities

    "Help hospitals hire and retain the staff they need by paying nurses, PSWs and other supportive healthcare workers a living wage and providing them with additional training and professional development opportunities to stay in the public system." — Getting the Basics Right: A Plan to Do More For You, retrieved 2025-02-22

  • Regulate temporary nursing agencies

    "Crackdown on Ford’s for-profit healthcare by regulating temporary nursing agencies." — Getting the Basics Right: A Plan to Do More For You, retrieved 2025-02-22

  • Provide opportunities for skilled trades and health care workers through union-led training programmes
  • Offer a $150,000 bonus to nurses and doctors who return to the province from practising medicine in the States

    "Offer a $150,000 bonus to patriotic nurses and doctors who are currently practicing in the U.S. but want to come home and support our publicly-funded healthcare system." — Getting the Basics Right: A Plan to Do More For You, retrieved 2025-02-22

Green

  • Harmonise wages across the healthcare system, and ensure that they're equitable across settings/communities and internationally competitive

    "Pay healthcare workers fairly by harmonising wages across the health- care system to ensure retention of experienced staff and good community health supports. Ensure wages are equitable and internationally competitive for Doctors, Registered Nurses (RNs), Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs), and Nurse Practitioners (NPs) across all healthcare settings" — Our Plan for Fairness, retrieved 2025-02-22

    "Fix the staffing shortage by providing equal pay for nurses, doctors and PSWs across all communities and healthcare settings in Ontario to increase capacity in rural and re- mote communities, and compensate healthcare workers fairly for their travel to treat patients at home" — Our Plan for Fairness, retrieved 2025-02-22

  • Address retention and recruitment issues to meet the need of at least 6,800 new PSWs by 2028

    "Address retention and recruitment issues so that we can meet the need of at least 6,800 new PSWs by 2028" — Our Plan for Fairness, retrieved 2025-02-22

  • Increase fast-tracked credential approvals for international healthcare workers, including nurses and doctors
  • Increase nursing student enrolments by 10% per year for five years, and increase nurse practitioners by 2,500 by 2030

    "Increase nursing student enrolments by 10% per year for the next 5 years. Increase nurse practitioners by 2,500 by 2030" — Our Plan for Fairness, retrieved 2025-02-22

  • Shift away from the reliance on agency nurses
  • Compensate healthcare workers fairly for their travel to treat patients at home
  • Cap licensed agency fees and restrict agency nurses from working in a hospital of previous employment for six months

    "Shift away from our reliance on agency nurses and decrease the financial burden on hospitals by capping licenced agencies fees and restricting agency nurses from working in the hospital of previous employment for six months" — Our Plan for Fairness, retrieved 2025-02-22

Looking for the parties' positions on other topics?

See our full 2025 Ontario election platform comparison