Strategic Framework/Plan

Acknowledgements

This strategic plan was shaped by many hands — thank you to everyone who contributed.

A team of Board members (supported by two senior executive staff) collaboratively worked to guide multiple consultations, review the extensive advice gathered, and craft the strategic plan itself, based on what was heard.

How ONA’s 2021-2026 Strategic Plan Was Developed

In order to develop a strategic plan that reflected the needs and aspirations of all of ONA, ONA’s Board of Directors approved a robust engagement effort over the course of late 2020 and early 2021.

Even while the COVID-19 pandemic challenged all of us, more than 3,250 ONA members, Local executives, Bargaining Unit representatives, and staff stepped up to share their advice and help point ONA forward in the years ahead.

• 2,500+ general members completed a strategic planning survey distributed to all ONA members.
• Eight focus groups and 20+ interviews were completed with a diverse mix of general members who held a broad range of experiences and perspectives.
• 550+ Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives completed a detailed strategic planning survey.
• Seven focus groups and 13 interviews were completed with Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives, including representatives from all ONA regions and sectors, and a range of professional designations.
• 170 ONA staff completed a staff strategic planning survey.
• Three focus groups were held with a total of 30 nonmanagement ONA staff, and one focus group was held with the ONA management team.
• Each of ONA’s three Board committees were consulted at least once.
• All members of the Board of Directors and all Senior Executive Team members were interviewed and participated in several strategic planning discussions.

In June 2021, ONA’s Board of Directors received, reviewed, and unanimously approved the 2021-2026 Strategic Plan.

A deep and heartfelt thank you to the many ONA members who took time to help shape ONA’s future. We look forward to making good on the commitments in this plan, in order to better support you, your fellow members, and the patients, residents, and clients you care for.

ONA: Your Union

Our mission at ONA is to defend the rights of and advocate for nurses and health-care professionals who care for the health of Ontarians.

Our vision is empowered members taking collective action for safe, equitable workplaces and high-quality health care for all Ontarians.

We are powered by our members — 68,000 nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates — who provide care in hospitals, long-term care, public health, the community, clinics, and industry.

Organized into more than 540 Bargaining Units and 60 Locals across Ontario, our members elect executives and representatives to work hand-inhand with ONA’s provincial staff. Every day, these executives and representatives step up to help their fellow members raise issues with their employer concerning their rights, entitlements, and ability to provide professional, high-quality care in a safe and equitable environment. Every few years, our Bargaining Unit representatives also undertake collective bargaining with employers in order to establish contracts for our members.

ONA staff provide a range of support to Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives so that they can serve members effectively. ONA staff also provide several direct member services. As Ontario’s largest health-care union, we also undertake legal challenges and engage in advocacy towards the public and the government on behalf of our members, as well as workers, patients, and residents throughout Ontario.

ONA’s work is overseen, guided, and supported by an elected Board of Directors made up of experienced and passionate member leaders.

In all our work, we value:

• Strength and Unity: Determined and together, we harness our collective power and achieve our shared goals.
• Integrity and Professionalism: We are committed to doing what is right, advancing the interests of our members, and advocating for patients, residents and clients.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: We embrace our differences and seek to create an organization, a health-care system, and a society where all people are valued, included and respected.

Our Strategic Plan at a Glance

Our strategic plan actions for 2021-2026 are organized under six priority areas:

Why This Plan Matters

The years ahead will be full of promise and challenge for our members and for Ontario’s health-care system.

In the wake of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, we must collectively be ready for the challenges and opportunities these next years will bring. The more organized we are, the more we can achieve together.

Our new strategic plan will guide our decision-making as we navigate the years ahead, keeping us focused on what matters most.

Informed by the collective wisdom of more than 3,000 ONA members, Bargaining Unit representatives, Local executives, Board members, and staff, this plan is a map that will guide ONA through the coming years. It will help us serve our members even more effectively, allowing us to emerge in 2027 stronger, better connected, more responsive, more effective, and more influential.

By approving this strategic plan, ONA’s Board of Directors is committing ONA to focus on six priorities for 2021-2026 and to complete 22 strategic actions in this timeframe.

This plan is not an exhaustive description of all that ONA will do in the years ahead. Much of what we do and how we work will remain constant. Instead, this strategic plan identifies priorities and actions that will be top of mind for staff and the Board of Directors as they make ongoing decisions and undertake their day-to-day work.

We do not yet know all the specific ways that we will advance these priorities and achieve these actions — and yet we know these priorities and actions are of critical importance for our future and our ability to serve the interests of our members. We will learn and adjust as we go, with the help and advice of members, Local executives, and Bargaining Unit representatives, adapting to changing circumstances and to successes and setbacks along the way.

Importantly, the Board of Directors will keep a close eye on whether ONA is on track to complete these 22 actions by 2026, and whenever necessary, will redirect ONA’s energy, attention, and resources to ensuring that these actions are accomplished.

These six priorities and 22 specific actions will also be given precedence when the Board sets annual priorities and establishes ONA’s annual budget, and when staff, Local executives, Bargaining Unit representatives, ONA members, and the Board of Directors examine emerging challenges, evaluate new opportunities, and consider new ideas.

While this plan will guide us, it will not restrict us when unanticipated circumstances demand that we act in bold new ways. The last year has shown how different the future can be than anticipated. We will remain nimble and always seek to keep the best interests of our members at heart.

We encourage all members to play a valuable role in holding us accountable to achieving these commitments over the next five years.

Our Strategic Plan Explained

ONA is setting out to complete 22 strategic actions in the next five years. These actions are organized under six priorities.

Members Informed

Your time is valuable. We want to make sure it is easy for you to get the information you are looking for.

WE WILL:

1. Make it easy for our members to keep their contact information and communication preferences up to date.
2. Tailor e-communications and social media from ONA Provincial so our members receive and have greater awareness of information they need.
3. Provide Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives with tools and tactics for communicating valuable information to their members.
4. Improve ONA’s website and mobile app so it is easy for our members to find the information they are looking for.
5. Work towards having all new members get a great orientation to the information they need, through their Bargaining Unit.

Members Supported

Our members need skilled help when they encounter an unsafe condition, an unmanageable responsibility, or a violation of their rights. ONA staff work with your Bargaining Unit representatives, so together we can support you.

WE WILL:

1. Enhance the labour relations service so that all Bargaining Unit representatives have enough of this highly valued support to serve their members effectively.
2. To help members address workload and safety concerns, provide enhanced informational tools and education to Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives about relevant processes, resulting in increased member satisfaction with the options available to them.
3. Ensure new Bargaining Unit Presidents are given high-quality onboarding and intensive, needs-based support so their members receive consistent service during leadership transitions.

Stronger Bargaining Units

Our Bargaining Units are run by committed ONA members who have stepped up to help their colleagues, often on top of their work as health-care professionals. They work hard for their members but cannot build strong Bargaining Units alone. These representatives need the contributions of their fellow members, as well as access to high-quality education and assistance from ONA staff and Local Coordinators. Working together, we can all help build and maintain high-performing Bargaining Units that reach, empower, and serve each and every one of our members.

WE WILL:

1. Establish an annual member service experience survey, linked to Local executive and Bargaining Unit representative competencies, as well as to service delivery guidelines, to help guide service improvement efforts.
2. Assess our educational offerings, and use lessons learned to strengthen foundational learning pathways for Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives, in order to help build highperforming Bargaining Units and Locals.
3. Establish a foundational offering of Frenchlanguage education programs with key document translation for Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives, so French-speaking Bargaining Units are supported to serve their members effectively.
4. Work with Local executives and Bargaining Unit representatives to review the role and structure of Locals, and to assess whether there are opportunities to improve how ONA Locals and staff work together to support Bargaining Units.

Telling Ontarians the Truth

Politicians and health-care leaders listen to Ontarians, and Ontarians trust and listen to you — nurses and health-care professionals. We can be even more prominent and assertive in the public conversation, helping to shine a spotlight on the reality you face at work, and on how conditions at work compromise the care that Ontarians rely on.

WE WILL:

1. Seize strategic opportunities to use stronger public messaging, particularly in our advertising campaigns, in order to share directly with Ontarians what our members know about the conditions in our health-care system.
2. Assess ONA’s effectiveness at reaching Ontarians through the media and determine if steps should be taken to increase our impact.
3. As part of our strategic communications plan, strengthen our social media strategy for reaching Ontarians on behalf of our members.

Everyone Included

ONA is committed to creating and maintaining an equitable union environment that embraces our differences and values and respects all people. All of us — Board members, staff, Local executives, Bargaining Unit representatives, and members — have an active part to play.

WE WILL:

1. Develop and implement an ONA anti-racism plan focused on how ONA’s Locals and Bargaining Units welcome and support members who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC). The plan will include improvements to ONA education, efforts to increase the representation of BIPOC across all levels of the organization, and enhancements to disciplinary responses to racist and discriminatory behaviours.
2. Develop tools to support and encourage members to participate in creating an equitable and inclusive union that reflects and welcomes all of our members.
3. Develop and implement a staff diversity, equity, and inclusion plan to improve structures and advance practices that ensure equal opportunities within the staff environment, including but not limited to improvements to staff training on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
4. Develop and implement an evaluation plan to monitor and help improve the effectiveness of ONA’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Our Work, For You

We will continue to build up a healthy and high-performance workplace culture at ONA that enables us to serve our members well. We will nurture mutual respect, trust, and understanding, create clarity about roles and processes, deepen our shared commitment to our mission, and empower everyone to do exceptional work for our members.

WE WILL:

1. Develop a collaborative leadership framework that clarifies roles and processes for how ONA’s Board of Directors and Senior Executive Team work together for our members.
2. In order to nurture a healthy, high-performance workplace culture at ONA and ultimately enable employees to do their best work for our members, provide greater clarity for ONA staff concerning roles and processes, especially with regards to cross-team collaboration.
3. Consolidate, improve, and annually evaluate training and professional development structures for ONA staff. This will include strengthening foundational orientation for new staff and enhancing access to mentorship, career and succession planning support, performance evaluation, and skill development opportunities.