Thursday, March 19 – Today, the Ontario government announced the next phase of its Primary Care Action Plan, increasing total funding from $2.1 billion to $3.4 billion until 2029 to support the expansion of primary care teams across the province.
In addition to more money for new or expanding primary care teams, the government intends to roll out a new provincewide Primary Care Medical Record system, designed to integrate patient records, reduce administrative burden for physicians, and improve the quality of care for patients. To support its implementation, Supply Ontario has launched a market-sounding exercise, inviting innovative providers to share insights on market capacity, capabilities, readiness, level of interest, and available solutions for delivering primary care digital services across Ontario.
Key highlights in this round:
- New money for primary care in the 2026 Ontario budget: With the Ontario Budget set to be tabled next week on March 26, the government has announced an additional $325 million investment this year to support the attachment of another 500,000 people. It appears that the government has also increased projected spending on primary care for the next two fiscal years, bringing the total to a whopping $1.3 billion in additional money set aside for primary care.
- Exceeding Year 1 targets: The province reported that it attached approximately 330,000 individuals to primary care in the last year via 80 new and expanded teams from the first call for applications. This surpasses their 2025-2026 patient attachment target of 300,000 under the Primary Care Action Plan. The Health Care Connect waitlist has been reduced by over 87%, representing about 204,800 fewer people waiting for care.
- Round 2 results: The government announced the results of the second call for applications for new or expanded primary care teams, noting it selected 124 successful applications which are expected to connect a further 500,000 patients across Ontario. The government will announce these in the coming weeks. Each team has developed a plan to attach a significant proportion of unattached individuals in their communities in partnerships with local Ontario Health Teams, including those on the Health Care Connect waitlist.
- The case for “one patient record”: While approximately 12,000 (about 90%) of Ontario family physicians currently use electronic medical records (EMRs), the systems are independent and often disconnected. The province intends to go through a market-sounding exercise, followed by a Vendor of Record (VOR) arrangement, to determine the best path forward towards a seamless, interoperable system that supports data movement across primary care settings.
- Market sounding for “one patient record”: The new centralized procurement agency, Supply Ontario, will be leading the charge in assessing whether there is enough market interest and capabilities to deliver on a seamless primary care EMR. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) is also playing a supportive role, partnering with the Ministry of Health to help consolidate data on injured workers’ care. WSIB data shows that individuals with access to a family physician needed an average of 70 days off work, compared to 92 days for those without access — a 23% reduction in time away from work.
Santis Insights
No one had “new health spending” on their bingo card for the upcoming 2026 Ontario budget given Premier Doug Ford’s and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy’s recent comments about the need to rein in health spending. Ontario is doubling down on primary care as a system stabilizer, pairing significant new funding – $1.3 billion extra to be exact – with a structural digital play. The signal to the sector is clear: scale attachment quickly, demonstrate measurable access gains, and prepare for tighter integration requirements tied to a future “one patient record.”
The rollout of primary care expansion in Ontario has not been without challenges in recent months. A key issue is growing frustration with the lack of seamless patient data exchange across the system, which is fueling interest in a more integrated digital record solution for primary care. While enhancing data collection may eventually support measurement against Key Performance Indicators, the immediate priority is improving information sharing to strengthen continuity of care.
At the same time, the Ontario government continues to face pressure to invest additional resources to connect the remaining 12-13% of Ontarians who are still unattached to a primary care team. These individuals may represent some of the most difficult patient populations to attach for a host of factors (geography, language barriers, chronic health concerns, marginalized groups).
The introduction of a provincewide medical record system is the more consequential long-term shift. It addresses a massive structural hurdle: 12,000 family doctors currently operating as independent IT purchasers using siloed platforms. Headlines imply movement towards a single system, and while it is not entirely impossible, details indicate that a single system pathway is not the most likely path forward. The market-sounding exercise could result in various pathways, from a longer VOR list that physicians can select from (similar to the current AI scribe approach), to a shorter VOR list that regions would select from (similar to Central Intake), or the least likely outcome of a single system. The fact that the details of this announcement emphasize physician choice in participation in this system indicate that a single system is highly unlikely.
The market-sounding exercise is therefore an exploration of what is possible, which creates a near-term window for vendors and providers to shape requirements — but also flags efforts to work through procurement, privacy, and implementation risks. Recognizing any transition to a new digital model could be burdensome, the government’s commitment to explore funding for EMR licensing costs, adoption assistance, and technical support is a strategic “carrot” designed to drive voluntary uptake among physicians. It signals a move toward standardization, interoperability, and potentially tighter provincial oversight of primary care data and performance.
The bottom line: The province is moving quickly from funding expansion to system integration — and organizations that align early on scale, data interoperability, and attachment contributions will be best positioned to capture funding and shape what comes next.
Key Dates and Details
- Market Sounding Issued: March 19, 2026
- Participation Request Submission Deadline (via Ontario Tenders Portal): March 27, 2026, at 23:59 (Toronto time)
- Vendor Contact Window: Week of March 30, 2026
- Market Day Meetings: Wednesday, April 1, 2026, at 13:00 (Toronto time)
- Successful Round 2 IPCT Applicants Notifications: Late March-April 2026
- Target to clear Health Care Connect waitlist: Spring (June) 2026
- Expected Launch of Round 3 IPCT Call for Applications: Fall 2026
Further Reading
Read the details of the marketing sounding exercise here.