Toronto, ON, March 18, 2026 – A tidal wave of employer cutbacks has wiped out more than 700 front-line nurse and health-care worker positions since January 2025, leaving patients, residents and clients with less care and longer waits for treatment.
Hospitals and health-care workplaces have eliminated positions in surgery, endocrinology, acute oncology, internal medicine, hemodialysis, post-anesthesia care units (PACU), endoscopy, dialysis, mother and baby units, mental health and more. The cuts span hospitals, long-term care homes, public health and primary care clinics.
“Ontario already has the worst nurse staffing levels per capita in Canada, making it a dangerous move for health-care CEOs to cut even more front-line staff simply to save a few dollars,” says ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN. “The Ford government is deliberately underfunding public health care to pave the way for more privatization. The result is predictable: longer waits for patients, unsafe workloads for nurses and health-care professionals and a system pushed even closer to the brink. These cuts must stop.”
After a 14-week break, the Ontario legislature returns to Queen’s Park on March 23. The government is expected to release its provincial budget on March 26. There have been clear warning signs coming from the Financial Accountability Office whose budget outlook projected a $10.7 billion health funding shortfall by 2027-28 under the Ford government’s current spending plan.
“Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy recently called Ontario’s health-care spending ‘unsustainable.’ We agree,” says Ariss. “It’s unsustainable for workers who are cut when budgets tighten. It’s unsustainable for patients who pay the price when front-line nurses and health-care professionals are eliminated, instead of finding savings elsewhere. And it’s unsustainable for a health-care system already stretched beyond its limits. We demand Premier Ford immediately issue a moratorium on further cuts, and work with us to implement safe and mandatory nurse-to-patient ratios.”
“Safe nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, have been proven in other jurisdictions to improve care, save money over time and help recruit and retain nurses,” Ariss adds. “More nurses, not fewer, will also help address the alarming levels of workplace violence we face every day.”
ONA is the union representing 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.
-30-
