Ontario highlights primary care in fall statement

TORONTO – Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy (pictured) delivered a fall economic update earlier this month, saying the province “finds itself in a very different place than it did seven years ago” due to the onslaught of U.S. tariffs. Nevertheless, he said the deficit this year is now projected at $13.5 billion, compared to a projected $14.6 billion in the spring budget.

The smaller deficit comes amid higher-than-expected revenue for 2025-26 of $223.1 billion – $3.2 billion more than forecast in the spring budget. The province says the increase is driven mainly by stronger tax revenue and broader public sector revenue.

Primary care
The province reiterated its commitment to investing in healthcare, with primary care at the top of the priority list. According the government, under Ontario’s $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan, the government has implemented a broad series of initiatives with the goal of connecting every person in Ontario to convenient ongoing primary care by 2029, including:

• Creating and expanding over 130 primary care teams through a $235 million investment in 2025–26 to connect over 300,000 people in Ontario to ongoing primary care clinicians, some of whom have already begun accepting new patients.
• Investing $300 million over four years to build up to 17 new and expanded community-based primary care teaching clinics that will combine direct patient care with hands-on learning for primary care learners, allowing up to 300,000 more people to be connected to ongoing primary care.
• Investing more than $250 million to launch the next call for proposals to create and expand approximately 75 additional primary care teams that will connect 500,000 more people to a primary care clinician.

The province committed to connecting the 235,000 people that were on the Health Care Connect waitlist as of January 1, 2025, to a family doctor or primary care team by spring 2026. This waitlist has been reduced by half, with the province on track to hit its initial commitment next spring.

Training and retaining healthcare providers
Through the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant (OLSG), the government is supporting students with funding to cover the cost of tuition, books, and other direct educational expenses for eligible health-related programs.

Through the OLSG, the government is increasing the number of nurses, paramedics, and medical laboratory technologists in underserved and growing communities in Northern, Southwestern, and Eastern Ontario. Eligible students commit to working in the communities where they studied for a term of service after graduation.

The government is continuing to invest in the program with an additional $261.7 million over three years. Since its launch in 2023–24, the OLSG has provided over $96 million in support to more than 8,200 students.

The government is continuing efforts to ensure more Ontario-trained doctors practise family medicine here at home in the communities that need them. As announced in the 2025 Ontario Budget, the government is investing $159.6 million over three years, beginning in 2026–27, to expand the OLSG to four cohorts of medical school students.

The grant will cover direct educational costs, including tuition and fees, for those who commit to working in the community for a term as family physicians after completing residency anywhere in the province. In addition, the government is creating more opportunities for Ontario residents who started their medical education abroad to be able to complete their postgraduate training in Ontario.

Home and community care
The Ontario government said it is investing more than $1.1 billion over three years to support an 8 percent increase in home care volumes in 2025–26 and to support the expansion and sustainability of the Hospital to Home (H2H) program.

These investments are delivering measurable improvements, including more consistency of care for patients, and a 94 percent reduction in waitlisted patients for personal support services from 2022–23 to 2024–25. This investment also seeks to reduce the number of patients awaiting discharge to more appropriate care settings.

Strengthening the Hospital to Home program
As part of Ontario’s commitment to transforming the home care system, the government has committed $3 billion over the last four years to stabilize the sector’s workforce and further expand services. Building on its commitment, the government is investing more than $170 million over three years to enhance and expand the H2H program. This program supports patients on their transition from hospital to home and served about 7,900 patients in 2024–25.

With this funding, services will be maintained across the existing sites, and up to 18 new sites will be developed to enable the program to serve approximately 3,240 more patients beginning in 2025–26. Through this investment, more people in Ontario will receive safe, high-quality care at home, easing pressure on hospitals and emergency departments.

Hospitals
The government is investing approximately $56 billion over the next decade in health infrastructure, including over $43 billion in capital grants. This ambitious plan will support over 50 hospital projects and deliver approximately 3,000 new hospital beds to enhance access to quality care and build a connected, people-first healthcare system.

Long-Term Care homes
The government said that it continues to make progress towards its commitment to build 58,000 new and upgraded beds to modern design standards across the province by 2028. As of October 2025, 148 long-term care homes are either open, under construction, or are approved to start construction. This includes:

• 44 homes completed, representing 2,871 new beds and 3,791 beds upgraded to modern design standards; and
• 104 homes under construction or approved to start construction, representing 10,305 new beds and 7,134 beds being upgraded to modern design standards.