Social Policy in Ontario

Ontario got $3.2 billion for health care. What did patients get?

Posted on August 13, 2026 in Health Debates

Source: TheStar.com — Authors: Iris Gorfinkel

TheStar.com – Opinion
Aug. 13, 2026.   By Iris Gorfinkel, Contributor

“There always has to be accountability … that’s the least of our issues.” — Premier Doug Ford

By Oct. 1, Ontario will report on a $3.195 billion question: What measurable improvements did three years of federal health funding buy for patients facing long waits? The deadline looms as the province increasingly relies on private clinics.

The Ford government must report on two federal funding streams: $2.5 billion for four shared health priorities, plus nearly $700 million for mental health and substance-use services. In exchange, Ontario committed to an action plan, targets and public progress reports.

For the patient awaiting a cataract operation, knee replacement, MRI or mental-health care, the question is simpler: did this money make care arrive sooner?

Surgical and diagnostic money

The plan’s largest planned investment — about $1.25 billion — was earmarked for surgical and diagnostic capacity. Ontario’s public action-plan update does not show what portion reaches for-profit facilities and providers. The agreement was meant to reduce waits. Yet Ford keeps expanding private clinics, despite evidence that they draw on the same limited health-care workers as public hospitals — risking further staffing shortages and longer waits for hospital care.

Ontario reports targets, but doesn’t offer a public, provider-level account of where the money went — and what it bought. Without public breakdowns of allocations, contracts, payments and results, Ontarians cannot judge wait times, health outcomes and value for money.

Ontario’s action plan committed $596 million to mental-health and addictions services from 2023-26 — in addition to earlier federal mental-health funds. While the plan identifies broad funding categories, detailed accounting remains missing.

Despite the added funding, the Ford government ended provincial funding for supervised consumption sites, cutting off a source of addiction care for people at highest risk. HART Hubs offer recovery and social supports, but not supervised consumption and needle exchange — services that save lives.

The plan lists $90 million for interprofessional primary-care teams. Ontario is expanding primary-care teams with about 275,000 additional attachments by Sept 2025, but the province hasn’t shown how many became attached through the federal-provincial health agreement specifically.

Without public accounting linking dollars, programs and verified outcomes, Ontarians cannot assess what was achieved or whether they delivered value for money.

Lack of public scrutiny

The lack of clear accounting is just one barrier Ontarians face in understanding where funding is going. Another is how much more difficult public scrutiny has become under Ford’s government.

Bill 60 keeps the details private clinics submit in licence applications out of public view. Ontario posts some contract awards, but the public can’t routinely see how clinics are selected, how much they’re paid or the results they deliver.

Bill 97 blocks freedom-of-information access to many records held by the premier, ministers and their offices. It also stretches the crucial response periods from calendar days to business days and permits additional extensions.

After just 30 sitting days, Ford adjourned the legislature until Oct. 27 — leaving no question period or committee hearings before Ontario’s Oct. 1 reporting deadline.

The Ford government spent a record $111.9 million to advertise in 2024—25. Yet its public agreement update does not give Ontarians a provider-level accounting of where the $3.2 billion in federal health funding went or what each investment delivered.

Ontario’s Auditor General flagged nine campaigns costing $43 million because they appeared designed to create a favourable impression of the governing party or included claims lacking context or evidence.

Right to know

Ontarians have a right to know how federal and provincial health dollars are spent and what public services, shorter waits or better access those dollars deliver. Ontario has accepted federal reporting obligations. The province should go beyond the minimum rules and show the receipts: money received, payments made, contracts awarded and results delivered.

If Canadians filed their taxes with this level of transparency, the CRA would demand answers. Taxpayers deserve the same standard from government: clear accounts, public results and no excuses.

Note to Premier Ford: You’re right to say there always has to be accountability, but it’s not — and never was — “the least of our issues.”   It is the issue. Ontario got $3.2 billion. Show us the books.

Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/ontario-got-32-billion-for-health-care-what-did-patients-get/article_1ec63cc8-2291-4db5-9728-60f5204a1dd9.html

Tags: budget, Health, jurisdiction

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