Health News For South West


Monday, June 23, 2025
Ontario. Ministry of Health - [Toronto - University Avenue] - [Public Health Care]
Ontario Connecting 300,000 More People to Primary Care

Province launching over 130 new and expanded primary care teams across Ontario to connect people in underserved communities to care

As part of its $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan to connect everyone in Ontario to a publicly funded family doctor or primary care team, the Ontario government has announced a $235 million investment to support over 130 new and expanded primary care teams that will connect 300,000 people to primary care this year.

“We are continuing to build on our government’s record investments, which have helped secure Ontario the highest rate of access to a regular health-care provider in the country,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “We are protecting Ontario’s health-care system and people’s access to convenient care by funding new and expanded primary care teams across the province, helping connect everyone in Ontario to a primary care provider.”

The over 130 primary care teams were selected through a recent call for proposals focused on communities—identified by postal code—with the highest number of residents not connected to primary care, including those on the Health Care Connect waitlist. Each successful team has established a plan to attach a high proportion of unattached people in their postal codes and demonstrated readiness to achieve significant progress within a year. 

“Together we are building a primary care system that is comprehensive, convenient and connected for every single person in Ontario,” said Dr. Jane Philpott, Chair of Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team. “Through the government’s historic investments, we are making meaningful progress in expanding access to care—and this is just the beginning. In communities across Ontario, your primary care team will be your entry to care, where you will have a team of health professionals led by a family doctor or nurse practitioner to provide the care and services you need, when you need them, in a timely way.”

Minister Jones and Dr. Philpott made the announcement at Flemingdon Health Centre in Toronto, which is receiving more than $4 million annually through this allocation to help attach more than 9,600 people to primary care through the East Toronto Health Partners Ontario Health Team. Flemingdon Health Centre will focus on stabilizing the most complex patients with the greatest needs, who often struggle to navigate the health-care system. This model helps increase system capacity across East Toronto and reduces reliance on emergency services by meeting patients’ needs earlier and more effectively in the community.

Through this latest investment, the province is providing primary care teams with $142 million in operational funding over three years to recruit and retain health-care workers. Funding can be used for non-physician team members such as nurse practitioners, registered practical nurses, physician assistants and pharmacists.

“At Flemingdon Health Centre, we have spent the last ten years building a model of community driven integrated primary health care,” said Jen Quinlan, CEO of Flemingdon Health Centre. “This means prioritizing keeping people well and in the community. For the cost of a single trip to the emergency department, FHC can provide a suite of health care services to that same person for an entire year.” 

In addition to funding new and expanded primary care teams, the province is investing $300 million to build up to 17 new and expanded community-based primary care teaching clinics in communities with high rates of unattachment to primary care, allowing up to 300,000 more people to be connected to primary care.

Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government continues to take bold and decisive action to grow the province’s highly skilled health-care workforce and ensure people and their families have access to high-quality care closer to home for generations to come.     
         
Quick Facts:

  • The government continues to make progress on connecting everyone on the Health Care Connect waitlist, as of January 1, 2025 (235,000 individuals) to primary care by Spring 2026. To date, the number of individuals remaining on the list has decreased by over 25 per cent.
  • Ontario also recently passed the Primary Care Act, which establishes primary care as the foundation of Ontario’s health-care system and sets out six clear objectives for Ontario’s publicly funded primary care system to ensure people know what they can expect when connecting to primary care.
  • Interprofessional primary care teams connect people to a range of health professionals that work together under one roof, such as registered nurses and registered practical nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, and pharmacists, helping patients to receive more connected and convenient care. 
  • Eligible teams not selected for funding in this round will be encouraged to refine and resubmit their proposals for the next call for proposals, which is expected to launch in September 2025. 
  • In 2024 Ontario invested $110 million in primary care teams across the province, helping to connect 328,000 more people to primary care close to home.
  • Since 2018, Ontario has added over 15,000 new physicians to its health-care workforce, including an over 10 per cent increase in family doctors. 
  • Ontario is taking significant steps to strengthen its health-care workforce by making it easier for U.S.-licensed nurses and board-certified physicians to move to and practice in Ontario.                 
    
Quotes:

"As Ontario Health works to operationalize the government’s commitment, we work closely with our dedicated health system partners across regions in the primary care sector, identifying patient needs and ensuring that the necessary care delivery networks are in place. Our shared commitment is to ensure that all Ontarians are attached to a primary care provider so that their care needs are met, and that this care is delivered in an effective and integrated way."

- Matthew Anderson, President and CEO, Ontario Health

"At the East Toronto Family Practice Network, we are proud to be at the forefront of transforming primary care delivery. With this funding, we are expanding access to team-based care through our innovative neighbourhood model, including launching a Primary Care Access Clinic in partnership with Michael Garron Hospital. This clinic will improve timely access to primary care, advance training for family medicine residents, and strengthen connections to ongoing community care."

- Dr. Catherine Yu, Chair, East Toronto Family Practice Network; Medical Director, Health Access Thorncliffe Park; and Chief and Program Medical Director of Family and Community Medicine at Michael Garron Hospital

"East Toronto Health Partners Ontario Health Team has a bold vision for building a healthier East Toronto together. Through initiatives like Health Access Thorncliffe Park and Health Access Taylor-Massey, we’ve seen firsthand the impact of integrated, locally delivered care that responds to neighbourhoods’ unique needs. This investment will enable us to expand our capacity to serve more people across East Toronto — particularly in communities facing the greatest barriers to access."

- Anne Wojtak, Co-Lead, East Toronto Health Partners Ontario Health Team

"The OMA supports the efforts of Heath Minister Sylvia Jones and Dr. Jane Philpott’s primary action team to help attach more patients to family doctors. We're encouraged that communities with the highest rates of unattached patients are getting some much needed relief. The OMA looks forward to continuing to work with government to increase access to family medicine, so more Ontario patients are able to get the health-care services they need."

- Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman, President, Ontario Medical Association

"We’re encouraged to see the Primary Care Action Team (PCAT) moving forward with its goal of connecting more Ontarians to a family physician and primary care team. This investment is an important step toward ensuring people across the province can access the care they need, when they need it. As the rollout continues, we look forward to working with PCAT to ensure that all family physicians — across all models and settings — are supported in delivering high-quality, comprehensive care. With the right, well-resourced supports in place, we can retain the family doctors we have today and help more physicians choose family medicine for the long term."

- Deepy Sur, CEO, Ontario College of Family Physicians 

"We applaud the Ontario government’s investment in primary care teams as a vital step toward improving access and supporting the dedicated professionals delivering front-line care. This funding will make a real difference in recruitment, retention, and team stability—helping ensure more Ontarians get the care they need, when they need it."

- Jess Rogers, CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario

"The Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO) welcomes the provincial government’s continued efforts on ensuring Ontarians receive timely, high-quality care, when and where they need it by connecting them to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are integral members of primary care teams, working hard to serve patients across the province. We remain committed to continuing our work with the Government of Ontario to ensure patients from across the province can access care quickly and as close to home as possible."

- Dr. Michelle Acorn, CEO, Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO)

"The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) 54,400+ registered nurses (RN) and nurse practitioner (NP) members applaud the provincial government for its investment in more than 130 new and expanded primary care teams across the province. Prioritizing communities with the greatest needs is critical to expand access to high-quality, team-based care for people in underserved areas. NPs and RNs are essential to the success of these teams – and we welcome the emphasis on their retention and recruitment. This investment responds directly to RNAO’s long-standing call to build a health system rooted in strong community care – anchored in primary care, centred on people, integrated across sectors, grounded in equity and social determinants of health, and delivered through publicly funded, not-for-profit models. We look forward to continuing collaborating with government and partners to ensure that every person in Ontario is connected to a family doctor or nurse practitioner and can access the timely, comprehensive care they need – close to home."

- Dr. Doris Grinspun, RN, PhD, O.ONT., CEO, RNAO

"The Indigenous Primary Health Care Council applauds the Ontario government’s investment in expanding access to primary care across the province. We understand the unique barriers Indigenous communities continue to face in accessing timely, culturally safe health services. This funding represents a meaningful step toward closing those gaps and bringing care closer to home for the people we serve. We look forward to continued collaboration to ensure that Indigenous-led solutions are central to building an inclusive and accessible primary care system for all that focuses on appropriate attachment for the patients and clients in our communities."

- Caroline Lidstone Jones , CEO, Indigenous Primary Health Care Council (IPHCC)    
         
Additional Resources:

         
Media Contacts:

Ema Popovic
Minister Jones’ Office
ema.popovic@ontario.ca

Media Relations
Communications Branch
media.moh@ontario.ca

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