Ford government says 300,000 more people have access to primary care
Posted on January 14, 2026 in Health Delivery System
Source: TheStar.com — Authors: Robert Benzie
TheStar.com – Politics/Provincial
Jan. 12, 2026. By Robert Benzie, Queen’s Park Bureau Chief
Premier Doug Ford’s government estimates an additional 300,000 people will have gained access to primary care after the first year of its four-year, $2.1-billion push to tackle the doctors’ shortage.
In the first update on the status of the scheme, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said as of last September about 1.98 million people were still “not attached to primary care,” but maintained that number will be drastically reduced by 2029.
“Since this initiative began, Ontario has already attached over 275,000 new patients to a primary care clinician, putting the province on track to meet or exceed our target of connecting 300,000 new people to care in 2025,” Jones said Monday.
Flanked by Dr. Jane Philpott, the former federal Liberal health minister spearheading the primary care reforms, the minister said the hope is that an additional 500,000 people will gain access in 2026-27, following by more than 600,000 annually in 2027-28 and 2028-29.
Philpott links people to primary care by postal code in a system similar to how children are directed to schools.
Jones said the targets can be achieved through the increase in primary care teams, expansion of residency programs for Ontario-trained doctors and making it easier for foreign-educated physicians to practice here, noting “just under 100” of the latter were placed last year.
As well, the province is also adding 340 undergraduate seats and 551 postgraduate positions in medical schools over five years and many family doctors are taking on more patients because their practices are receiving more government support through the primary care teams.
But opposition parties emphasize Ontarians are still not seeing the benefits of the primary care changes.
“It defies belief that they would actually be able to reach those targets. This government is gaslighting Ontarians,” said NDP Leader Marit Stiles.
“Ontarians are sitting around going, ‘I’m waiting in emergency rooms, I don’t have a family doctor, I don’t have a nurse practitioner,’ and the government is telling you, ‘no, no, everything’s just fine,’” said Stiles.
Liberal MPP Adil Shamji (Don Valley East), a physician, panned the announcement.
“They brought on a very competent and very skilled individual to try and transform our primary care system,” said Shamji, referring to Philpott.
“But one year after announcing the primary care action plan to great fanfare, there is nothing to show for it,” he said,
For her part, Philpott, the former director of the Queen’s University medical school, said “there is incredible work happening across Ontario to strengthen primary care.”
“Last June, the Ontario government announced funding for approximately 130 new and expanded primary care teams that will connect more than 300,000 people to care,” she said.
“These teams are already making a difference. They are attaching tens of thousands of patients in the areas of highest need across the province. Our more recent call for proposals is going to fund about 75 more primary care teams and will connect an additional 500,000 people to care.”
Improving access to primary care does not only mean increased access to a physician, however.
Primary care teams bring together doctors, nurses, social workers and other health professionals in a co-ordinated approach to care that can serve more patients. While most are physician-only, some are led by nurse practitioners.
Much of the success in linking patients to primary care has been done by clearing the waiting list on Health Care Connect, an online and telephone initiative launched by former Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty in 2009.
On Jan. 1, 2025, there were 234,503 people on that waiting list seeking a doctor or nurse practitioner.
As of last week, there were 57,395 people on the list, meaning it had been 75 per cent cleared, and should be down to zero by June.
Last month, auditor general Shelley Spence said the government wasn’t doing enough to promote the Health Care Connect service so more Ontarians know how to register.
“I would say that Health Care connect was not being utilized as efficiently as it could be,” conceded Jones, adding Philpott has ensured enrollees “have a much better patient experience than would have been the case a year ago.”
Prior to last February’s election, where the governing Tories feared primary care would be a top issue with voters, Ford hired Philpott to implement reforms.
The Ontario Medical Association had insisted there were 2.5 million people without a family doctor in Ontario and the number was expected to rise to 4.4 million.
That’s in part because about 8,600 physicians have retired or left their practices since 2018.
Jones disputes the OMA figure, citing revised data from other organizations, including the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
To boost the number of doctors — especially in remote areas — the government is spending about $160 million over three years to expand the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant that covers educational costs for future family physicians who commit to practicing for a term of service.
https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/ford-government-says-300-000-more-people-have-access-to-primary-care/article_713ef6a2-d769-4f74-ba2c-7fdab5beb794.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a05&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=0C810E7AE4E7C3CEB3816076F6F9881B&utm_campaign=pol_hl_28681
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