Ontario to boost rural, northern primary and emergency care in agreement with OMA

TORONTO — Ontario is introducing a new program to stabilize physician staffing in rural emergency departments and putting more money toward helping people in underserved communities get access to primary care. The new commitments come out of negotiations between the government and the Ontario Medical Association for a new Physician Services Agreement. Those talks are ongoing for the bulk of the four-year agreement, but last fall an arbitrator issued a decision for the first year of that deal and awarded doctors a nearly 10 per cent compensation increase.

Part of that was for specific "targeted investments" to increase access to primary care, and the two sides have now come to an agreement on where that targeted funding will go. A statement from Health Minister Sylvia Jones does not list any dollar amounts, but says there will be "significant investments" in the Rural and Northern Physician Group Agreement primary care model. As well, there will be a new program called the Rural Emergency Medicine Coverage Investment Fund, which is meant to ensure appropriate doctor staffing levels year-round, and it replaces a now-expired temporary program that incentivized doctors to fill those shifts in rural and northern ERs.



This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 22, 2025. Allison Jones, The Canadian Press.