Ontario election 2025: Where do the parties stand on healthcare?

With the Ontario election set for Feb. 27, healthcare is at the top of mind for most voters, and all the major parties say they have plans that would guarantee a family doctor for all Ontarians.In a Nanos survey this week, more Ontarians picked healthcare as their top issue than any other. According to data from the Ontario College of Family Physicians, 2.5 million Ontarians are without a family doctor.Here’s what the major parties are proposing when it comes to healthcare:Progressive Conservative PartyThe incumbent Progressive Conservatives have not made any campaign announcements regarding healthcare. But in late January, two days before the election was officially called, Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced the province would invest $1.8 billion into a plan to connect every person in Ontario to a family doctor or a primary health team.These efforts, led by former federal Liberal health minister Dr. Jane Philpott, would connect two million more people to primary care by 2029 by creating 305 new interdisciplinary health teams, though it’s unclear how many doctors would work at each health team.In addition, the PCs are promising to modernize the user experience for Health Care Connect—the province’s centralized digital waitlist for Ontarians looking for a family doctor—and ensure that everyone currently on the waitlist will be connected to a primary care team by spring 2026.Read: Unpacking the how of a ‘guarantee of access’ for primary careOn Friday, PC Leader Doug Ford touted that Ontario has the “highest percentage of the population connected to a family physician.”“Is it good enough? It’s not good enough. I believe in continuous improvement,” Ford said at a campaign stop. “I want to thank Dr. Philpott for going and making sure over the next four years that we're going to connect every single person—every child, every infant, every teenager, every senior connected to a healthcare worker.”New Democratic PartyOn Friday, Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles announced her party’s healthcare plan, promising to invest $4.05 billion over four years to hire more physicians. “After seven years of Doug Ford, 2.5 million people have no family doctor and can’t get one. Adding to the failures of the Liberals who invented hallway healthcare, Ford has made it harder than ever for families to see a doctor and get the care they need. Every day this crisis deepens. It’s time to do something about it,” Stiles said in a news release.Part of the NDP plan involves adding 3,500 physicians through new residency spots, clearing barriers for 13,000 internationally trained physicians and implementing a 5% base budget increase for community health centres.The New Democrats have also promised to establish a “Northern Command Centre” to manage healthcare worker capacity in northern Ontario. Northern Ontario would also see 200 new family doctors and 150 new specialists under the NDP plan.Other proposals include expanding primary care teams, creating a centralized referral system and reducing the number of forms required to be filled by a doctor. The NDP is also promising to end the practice of negation— which is when physicians who are paid through capitation get financially penalized if a patient of theirs goes to a walk-in clinic.Liberal Party The Ontario Liberals had already announced their healthcare plan in December, pledging to invest $3.1 billion to add 3,100 new family doctors by 2029.“Let's invest in our healthcare system and ensure that everyone in this province has access to a family doctor. That is our pledge over the next four years. You can count on it,” Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said at a campaign stop in Brampton last week.Read: Ontario Liberals just made a campaign promise to ‘guarantee’ family docs for all Ontarians in 4 years. But how?The Liberals say they’ll create two new medical schools and expand existing ones to add an additional 1,300 undergraduate spots. They’re also promising to add 1,625 new residency positions, with two-thirds of these dedicated to family residents. In addition, the Liberals want to create financial incentives to convince 2,400 family doctors to nearing or past retirement age to delay retirement and bring at least 650 qualified family doctors currently working in other medical fields back to family medicine.Like the New Democrats, the Liberals are also proposing to expand team-based care, reduce administrative burden, create a centralized referral system and end negation. Other promises include expanding the use of AI, eliminating fax machines and expanding the Practice Ready Ontario program for internationally trained doctors.

Ontario election 2025: Where do the parties stand on healthcare?

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