Ontario Budget 2026: Nurses Applaud Care Funding, Decry Social Cuts

TORONTO, ON – March 27, 2026 – Ontario's 2026 provincial budget has created a stark divide in the healthcare community, drawing both praise for long-awaited investments and sharp condemnation for cuts and omissions that front-line workers warn will endanger the province's most vulnerable. The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) captured this duality in a pointed response, welcoming new funding for community care while sounding the alarm over what it calls an "ideological" and dangerous neglect of harm reduction, social supports, and climate action.

While the government has championed its investments, the province's nurses argue that building up one part of the health system while dismantling another will ultimately place more strain on emergency rooms and leave marginalized communities behind.

A Welcome Boost for Community Care

The budget, released Thursday, earmarks significant funds for shifting healthcare from overwhelmed hospitals into the community. A $3.4 billion investment in primary care aims to expand team-based models and connect more Ontarians with a family doctor or nurse practitioner (NP). Additionally, a $1 billion boost to home care over three years is designed to help people recover from surgery or age in their own homes.

Nurses, who have long advocated for this shift, greeted the news with cautious optimism. "These investments will make it easier for people to receive more coordinated and timely access to health services," said NP Lhamo Dolkar, RNAO's president, highlighting the importance for managing chronic illnesses.

The sober reality is that our hospitals are in peril without a robust community care sector anchored in primary care," the association stated, framing the investment as a foundational necessity.

However, the applause is tempered by concerns over implementation. The RNAO is calling on home care agencies to dedicate a substantial portion of the new funding to address severe pay disparities. On average, nurses in the home care sector earn only 70 per cent of what their hospital counterparts make. "Alleviating the unsustainable pressure on hospitals requires strengthening community care, and this will only happen when pay inequities for nurses are meaningfully addressed," said RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun.

The Unaddressed Nursing Crisis

While the budget includes $124 million for more nursing education seats, the RNAO argues it's not enough to solve a deepening workforce crisis. According to 2024 data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), Ontario has had the worst registered nurse (RN)-to-population ratio in Canada for nine consecutive years and would need an additional 26,000 RNs just to reach the national average.

Dr. Grinspun emphasized that training new nurses is only half the battle. "The welcome increases in educational seats must be accompanied by doubling down on nurse retention so existing nurses and new graduates build their careers in Ontario," she stated. "This will only happen if the government and employers ensure competitive and equitable compensation across all sectors."

Further complicating the primary care expansion is the province's delay in fully utilizing NPs. The RNAO is urging the Ford government to follow the lead of provinces like Saskatchewan and Newfoundland by creating a plan to publicly fund medically necessary care provided by NPs, a move they argue is a "ready-made solution" to improve access to care without forcing patients to pay out-of-pocket.

A 'Catastrophic' Decision on Harm Reduction

The most forceful criticism from the nursing body was directed at the government's decision to end all provincial funding for the province's remaining supervised consumption services (SCS) sites. Premier Doug Ford has defended the move, citing community safety concerns and pivoting towards an abstinence-focused model through new "Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs."

Nurses and public health experts have rejected this rationale, calling the decision devastating. "Nurses are appalled by the premier's decision to end funding for the few remaining supervised consumption services (SCS) sites," said Dolkar. "It is an ideological decision that leaves people to fend for themselves."

Critics point out that the government's preferred HART Hubs are not a replacement, as they do not offer the life-saving services of supervised consumption, safe supply, or needle exchange. This distinction is critical in a province grappling with a toxic drug crisis. Evidence compiled by researchers Gillian Kolla and Tara Gomes on the impact of previous site closures in 2025 is stark: EMS calls for opioid toxicities surged by nearly 70 per cent, emergency department visits rose by 67 per cent, and opioid-related deaths, which had been declining, began to climb again.

Data from Toronto Public Health shows that between 2020 and 2024, the city's SCS sites had nearly 400,000 visits and reversed almost 11,000 overdoses with no fatalities. The RNAO warns that eliminating these services will inevitably lead to more preventable deaths and place even greater pressure on an already strained emergency response system.

Gaps in the Social Safety Net and Climate Action

Beyond the immediate crisis of the SCS closures, the RNAO criticized the budget for its broader failure to address the social determinants of health. The budget was largely silent on increasing social assistance rates for Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program, which advocates argue are too low to lift people out of poverty. It also offered few specifics on tackling a homelessness crisis that has seen the unhoused population grow by eight per cent in the last year.

The budget also sees Ontario continuing to sit on the sidelines of the national pharmacare plan. Bill C-64, which provides federal funding for universal coverage of contraceptive and diabetes medications, has already been adopted by British Columbia, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon. By not signing on, Ontario is foregoing an estimated $2.5 billion in federal funds over four years. "Nurses call on the premier to follow their example as it will help millions of Ontarians who currently lack access to these drugs," Grinspun urged.

Finally, the RNAO expressed deep concern over the government's "dereliction of duty regarding the climate crisis." Citing a recent Auditor General's report, the association noted that Ontario is on track to miss its 2030 greenhouse gas emission targets and has no plan for reductions beyond that date. "Nurses and other health professionals are witnessing first-hand the health consequences of climate disruption, including extreme heat, wildfire smoke, floods, food insecurity and displacement," said Grinspun, framing climate action as an urgent public health imperative that the budget completely ignores.