Friday, October 17, 2025 – The Ontario Government has rolled out several health announcements in advance of the return of the Legislative Assembly next week. The Ontario Government will introduce legislation that moves forward on as-of-right rules for Canadian health care workers, covering 16 additional health professionals. The government also made a massive re-up on its long-term care funding commitment, with an additional $1.92 billion to sustain the increase in hours of direct care for long-term care residents and help homes attract and retain more staff to care for them.
Strengthening Health Human Resources Through Enhanced Labour Mobility
Under the proposed changes, professionals licensed and credentialed in other provinces and territories will be able to begin working in Ontario immediately without waiting for registration with the relevant regulatory college during their first six months. The government will also move forward with a previous commitment to automatically recognize another Canadian jurisdiction’s nursing and physician registration as valid in Ontario. On the latter, the province has further committed to working with the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and the College of Nurses of Ontario to reduce application fees and documentation requirements, and to issue certificates within two business days, allowing eligible health care workers to practice immediately.
As noted by Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Hon. Sylvia Jones:
“Our government is breaking down barriers and cutting red tape so that physicians, nurses, and other regulated health professionals from across Canada can start practicing in Ontario sooner. By leading the country in streamlining labour mobility, we’re making it faster and easier for health care professionals to deliver the world-class care Ontarians need, when and where they need it.”
The move is part of a years-long effort by the Ford government to speed up applications to regulatory colleges in order to add more skilled professionals in health care and the skilled trades to tackle significant labour shortages.. Ontario has made it a strategic priority to stave off threats posed by U.S. tariffs, moving more quickly on adding to the province’s workforce and removing barriers to domestic trade.
Meanwhile the Official Opposition (New Democratic Party) Shadow Minister for Health, France Gélinas, and Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Addiction, and Primary Care Dr. Robin Lennox claim the Ontario government is not doing enough for the province’s health care system and health care workforce. They state the province needs to be focused on making policy changes that will have real impact; or rather, reversing damaging policy decisions such as the government’s recent move to limit international medical graduates by requiring that they have attended at least two years of high school in Ontario.
Long-Term Care Funding Boost to Support Four Hours of Direct Daily Care
In the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Ontario government made a large-scale commitment to increase hours of direct care to a minimum of four hours for every long-term care resident. The promise came with the dollar figures to match – an additional $1.75 billion over five years for a total of $4.9 billion to help staff up homes and increase levels of care. The plan helped add 16,000 workers to Ontario’s long-term care sector. The new funding is set to sustain these staffing increases and the four hours of direct care for each long-term care resident. The government continues to work on strengthening the workforce further via recruitment, training, and retaining workers.
The government had been making steady progress on increasing hours of care, achieving interim targets that brought care up to three hours over the past two years. However, over the summer, it was reported that the government had not met the final target by its own deadline, although it came close at three hours and 49 minutes. Still, this week’s announcement boasted the province had achieved four hours and five minutes of Personal Support Worker (PSW) and nursing care for each resident every day as of April 1st – exceeding the target of the original commitment.
It’s no secret the Ford government has made very ambitious commitments to build new long-term care beds and upgrade aging facilities, commitments which still seem impossible. Yet the progress on the hours of care front has demonstrated that setting ambitious targets and backing them up with political willpower and significant funding commitments can have an impact. As the saying goes, shoot for the stars, and you may land on the moon. The next target: getting 30,000 new beds built and 28,000 beds upgraded by 2028.
Clearing the Health Connect Waitlist
ICYMI, Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Primary Care Action Team Chair Dr. Jane Philpott lauded progress on clearing the Health Care Connect waitlist. As of this week, the province has connected half of the 235,000 people on the Health Care Connect waitlist to a family doctor or primary care team since January 1, 2025.. The goal is to clear the list by spring 2026 and the government appears to be on track to meet that target.
The government recently launched a second call for Interprofessional Primary Care Team Proposals to create and expand approximately 75 primary care teams. The deadline for submissions is November 14, 2025 (applications page link here) and will connect an additional 500,000 people to primary care clinicians through a $250 million investment.
What’s Next
Ontario’s Minister of Finance, Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy, will present the province’s bold vision for growth, productivity and prosperity at the upcoming Canadian Club Toronto event on Monday, November 3, 2025. The event is likely to coincide with the release of the Ontario government’s 2025 fall economic statement, offering a mid-year fiscal update that revises economic forecasts, updates revenue and expense projections, and may introduce new initiatives or policy changes. Spoiler alert – expect U.S. tariffs to remain a main focal point, though we expect primary care, long-term care, and home care will be prominent priorities.
Organizations aiming to influence fiscal and health priorities in Ontario are encouraged to actively participate in the province’s annual pre-budget consultation process this fall. That process is typically launched formally shortly after the release of the fall economic statement. Watch out for the usual online submission portal and announcements. Public consultation sessions conducted by the Ministry of Finance and the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs will launch shortly after that and provide valuable opportunities to engage directly with policymakers.
Interested in learning more about long-term care funding in Ontario? Need to understand what the labour mobility changes mean for your organization? Contact one of our Santis Health experts today:
- Clare Michaels – clare.michaels@santishealth.ca
- Dylan Brenneman – dylan.brenneman@santishealth.ca
- Nabiha Paracha – nabiha.paracha@santishealth.ca
Further Reading
Read the labour mobility news release here.
Read the long-term care funding news release here.
Read the Health Care Connect news release here.
Read more about the Ontario government’s long-term care staffing plan.
Read more about Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan.