Tuesday, October 28, 2025 – The Ontario legislature is back for its second week and kicking off the week with a few major pre-FES (fall economic statement) announcements on home care and campaign financing. Here’s what you missed.
$1.1 Billion for Home Care
Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy and Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced an investment of $1.1 billion over three years in home care services and the Hospital to Home (H2H2) program, supporting more patients across the province.
Key investments over three years include:
- $982 million for services: An 8% increase in funding to connect more patients with home care services from nurses, physiotherapists, and social workers.
- $170 million for Hospital to Home programs: Supporting the development of 18 new Hospital to Home sites and the expansion of 23 existing sites.
The bottom line: The Ford government has long supported home care as a cost-effective way to reduce pressure on hospitals and long-term care (LTC) homes and improve patient outcomes for people who would prefer to recover at home after their hospital stay.
- Keep in mind that the government made a significant investment in the 2024 Ontario budget of $2 billion over three years to stabilize the home and community care workforce and to support the expansion of home care services.
The missing piece: The announcement didn’t include community support services which includes wrap-around services that support home care, such as meals-on-wheels, transportation, home maintenance and social supports that help older adults and other vulnerable Ontarians live safely and independently at home.
Why it matters:
- This $1.1 billion investment confirms where the Ford government sees health care heading – away from hospitals and into homes and communities.
Love for Hospital to Home: The shift in priorities is exemplified by the H2H program, one of Minister Jones’ priority initiatives. H2H helps patients transition from hospitals back home with coordinated care plans and services through Ontario Health atHome. Its expansion serves as a literal expression of the province’s pivot: funding is moving from hospitals toward home care.
Necessity of scaling services: In some way, the funding is also reactionary to volume constraints. Unlike the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, which is an open-ended line item, home care volume and services are capped based on the government’s allocations. The investment signals government recognition that current allocations no longer match population needs or acuity levels and that scaling service volume is now essential to maintain system flow and relieve pressure on hospitals.
Human health resource challenge: We’ll be looking to the upcoming fall economic statement to get a better understanding on what this investment will really buy. The critical variable remains human health resources. Expanded service delivery will require a larger workforce, but with ongoing shortages of personal support workers (PSWs), nurses, and allied professionals, the investment’s true impact depends on whether it includes recruitment and wage supports or whether it simply funds additional service volumes.
A deliberate shift in funding: This announcement demonstrates a potentially deliberate rebalancing of Ontario’s health care architecture, confirming in some ways what we already know: that the government is focused on creating capacity in the community as opposed to in hospitals. We saw evidence of this in the recent media frenzy, when Ontario hospitals went public with an almost $1 billion deficit requesting immediate relief and the government response was blunt : find savings even if it means cutting services. One could argue that the same billion is now flowing to the home care sector in a strategic signal from Queen’s Park that priorities are shifting. Every dollar in home care theoretically already prevents more spending in hospitals, but it will be interesting to see whether the government demands the same belt-tightening from home care providers that it’s requiring from hospitals.
Upending Campaign Financing
At the same time, Premier Doug Ford strode out at a last-minute press conference yesterday to update the public on the fight against U.S. tariffs, Attorney General Doug Downey issued a statement on big changes that are coming to election finances and political advertising in Ontario.
On campaign financing, the government is tabling a number of measures that will:
- Hike maximum donation limits from the current $3,400 per year to $5,000 per year starting in January 2026;
- End the practice of set election dates every four years, while respecting the five year legal maximum-legal limit between elections, and enable the Premier to go the Lieutenant Governor at their discretion to determine the date of the election; and
- Make the quarterly per-vote subsidy received by all parties a permanent measure.
On political advertising, the government is proposing to:
- Eliminate pre-writ spending limits for third parties and political parties which were introduced to prevent the ramping up of political spending in the lead up to a fixed election.
- Establish new financial penalties for those who do not comply with the Election Finances Act, including failure to provide information to the Chief Electoral Officer;
- Increase the maximum existing penalties around failure to register, third parties exceeding political advertising spending limits, and political parties, candidates and constituency associations exceeding campaign expense limits;
- Give the Chief Electoral Officer investigative powers to allow them to request information from third parties, whether they have registered or not;
- Require third parties to provide proof of registration status to broadcasters and publishers before placing political advertisements during an election period; and
- Consider measures to ban political advertising on government property such as buildings, billboards or transit stations.
Why It Matters
These measures will make the election cycle less predictable.. Without fixed dates, election timing could once again become a strategic tool for the Premier and require ongoing advocacy to ensure organizations aren’t missing the window for influencing campaign platforms or launching third-party advertising campaigns.
In the same breath, third-party political advertising is back with the elimination of pre-writ spending limits for third parties and political parties, spelling the return of intense, well-funded, and issue-based advocacy campaigns in the leadup to elections. However, enhanced penalties and investigative powers under the Election Finances Act also raise the compliance stakes. Organizations engaging or re-engaging in third-party political advertising will need to ensure strict observance of the updated registration, disclosure, and advertising rules.
Together, these reforms point to a more fluid and competitive advocacy environment in Ontario. Health and life sciences organizations should plan for shorter political lead times, robust advocacy activities earlier in the election cycle, and tighter scrutiny of communications that might qualify as political advertising.
Interested in learning more about home care funding in Ontario? Need to understand what the proposed political advertising reforms mean for your organization? Contact one of our Santis Health experts today:
- Clare Michaels – clare.michaels@santishealth.ca
- Nabiha Paracha – nabiha.paracha@santishealth.ca
- Dylan Brenneman – dylan.brenneman@santishealth.ca