Ottawa, ON, April 17, 2026 – The Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) says that The Ottawa Hospital is aiming to cut hundreds of front-line nursing positions, leaving patients with less care.
“It is absurd that in a province like Ontario, which already has the worst nurse-to-population ratio in all of Canada, a hospital is targeting nurses to make up for underfunding of the public health-care system by the Ford government,” says ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN. “Nurses have borne the brunt of inadequate funding for decades, suffering round after round of cuts even as mounting evidence shows us that we should be increasing RN staffing.”
The more than 200 cuts at The Ottawa Hospital include registered nurses, clinical care leaders, nurse specialists and nurse educators in several areas across the hospital.
“The breadth of these cuts is incredibly worrisome. Eliminating front-line staff is not just trimming a budget, it’s dismantling the backbone of patient care,” says Ariss. “Our members are beyond angry about the cuts, which will lead to longer wait times, increased burnout and risks to patient safety.”
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.
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