EnterpriseHealth Checkup: Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement
Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement
With a new legislative session underway and rumours swirling of a potential early election, today Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy tabled Ontario’s Fall Economic Statement (FES), titled Building Ontario for You.
Since returning from a lengthy summer recess, the Ford government has been focused on issues impacting the day-to-day lives of Ontarians: the cost of living, creating good-paying jobs, and building critical infrastructure to support Ontario’s continued growth. Today’s FES was a further opportunity to update Ontarians on their ambitious plans to “do more, build more, and give back to the people of our province,” while maintaining fiscal responsibility to balance the budget and restore Ontario’s credit ratings.
A quick snapshot
While cost of living and a pro-growth agenda have dominated the government’s focus this fall, health care continues to be a key priority as the government seeks to demonstrate how its investments and policies help to connect Ontarians to the care they need, when they need it.
Over the past few months, Premier Doug Ford and Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones have crisscrossed the province to highlight significant health care investments and initiatives centered around issues they see as top of mind to Ontarians, including:
- Primary Care: Appointing Dr. Jane Philpott as the chair of the new primary care action team with a mandate to connect every person in Ontario to primary health care within the next five years. The government is also expected to continue rolling out funding to expand and create new primary care teams across the province in the months ahead.
- Mental Health and Addictions: Investing $378 million in 19 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs and banning supervised drug consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres.
- Scope of Practice Expansion: Following the Ford government’s initial expansion of pharmacists’ scope of practice in January 2023, the government is consulting on a further expansion that would allow pharmacists to prescribe for additional minor ailments, order laboratory tests and perform more point-of-care tests.
- Driving Innovation in the Life Sciences Sector: Investing $94 million as part of Phase 2 of the Life Sciences Strategy for a total investment of $146 million, helping establish the province as a global biomanufacturing and life sciences hub.
So what’s in the FES for health care?
Expanding Ontario Fertility Supports: Investing $150 million over two years to expand the Ontario Fertility Program, tripling the size of the existing program. The province is also proposing to introduce a new tax credit, effective January 2025, that would cover up to 25 per cent of eligible expenses up to a maximum of $5,000 per year.
Expanding the Learn and Stay Grant to Family Doctors: Starting in 2026, the government is investing $88 million over three years to expand Learn and Stay grants for 1,360 eligible undergraduate students who commit to practise family medicine with a full roster of patients once they graduate. The funding will cover all tuition and other direct educational costs.
Eligibility Changes to Ontario Medical Schools: Starting in fall 2026, new legislative and regulatory changes will require all Ontario medical schools to allocate at least 95 per cent of all undergraduate medical school seats to residents of Ontario, with the other five per cent reserved for students from the rest of Canada.
Supporting Patients with ALS: The government is committing more than $13 million over three years, starting in 2024–25, to establish an Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) provincial program.
What does this mean?
The government continues to emphasize its commitment to a path to fiscal balance, while delivering targeted investments to make health care more connected and convenient.
With the possibility of an election right around the corner – and the potential for the province’s 2025 budget to act as a launching pad for the next PC Party election platform – health care stakeholders should consider how their priorities and programs align with those of the government, many of which were re-emphasized in today’s FES.
Policy asks from health care stakeholders that are aligned with the government’s commitment to improve services and demonstrate a return on investment will be prioritized. With the Ford government continuing to emphasize a pro-growth narrative, health care stakeholders should also look to demonstrate how their proposals will help to ensure Ontarians can access the care they need as Ontario’s population and economy continue to grow. Socializing these asks with government early will increase the likelihood of them being prioritized in the next budget.