By Ashley Newport, Lead Editor at INsauga.com Published January 20, 2026 at 4:22 pm     While health care can be–and is–delivered privately, publicly or through a two-tier system that utilizes both models, a recent poll of INsauga.com ’s readers suggests that, despite challenges with Canada’s universal health care system, people aren’t ready to embrace private options.   According to an informal online poll, 65 per cent of voters said they would not support more private healt

Jan. 20, 2026 Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones attends a news conference at the Michener Institute of Education in Toronto, Dec. 1, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young By Lhamo Dolkar and Doris Grinspun, Contributors Lhamo Dolkar is a practicing NP and the president of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO). Dr. Doris Grinspun is RNAO’s chief executive officer.   Alberta’s push toward for-profit health care has been making headlines, drawing criticism and p

From optometry and pharmacy to public health and therapeutics, Waterloo alumni are powering Canada’s health care sector   January 16, 2026 By University Relations Did you know your optometrist is likely a University of Waterloo graduate? Or that Waterloo’s School of Pharmacy offers Canada’s only pharmacy co-op program? Waterloo doesn’t just teach — our programs transform our students into allied health professionals who diagnose, treat, rehabilitate and support patients, impr

Costs for hospitals have been going up by about six per cent a year due, OHA president Anthony Dale said, while in recent years funding increases from the province have averaged around four per cent. By Elizabeth Payne Published Jan 16, 2026 A file photo of a sign directing visitors to the emergency department at CHEO in Ottawa. Photo by ADRIAN WYLD /THE CANADIAN PRESS Ontario hospitals will face tough choices in the next few years that will likely affect the services they of

The Physician Services Agreement, which came into effect last year, increases the financial incentive for doctors accepting patients from the province’s centralized waitlist from $350 to $500. 1/13/2026 Canadian Healthcare Network Staff   Ontario is giving family physicians money to take on new patients from the provincial waitlist. But is this incentivizing some doctors to drop their current patients in favour of taking on new ones?   In a story published on last week in the

Nurse Amie Archibald-Varley criticizes provincial leadership, saying promises to fix health care have gone unmet. Posted 2 Jan 2026 Devon Banfield, NOW Toronto Archibald-Varley warns healthcare delays are happening across the country, arguing that provincial governments must be held accountable, and privatization will only worsen the crisis. This comes after the recent deaths of Mandy Wood (left) and Prashant Sreekumar (right) who both died after experiencing delays in receiv

Don your scarves and pull your toques on tight. But is that winter frost or the bitter chill of progressive health policies put on ice?  Dec 18, 2025 by Maddi Dellplain        It’s been quite a year for Canadian health policy. Several controversial bills have come into play across the country, leaving many vulnerable patients and health-care workers wondering if they’ll be left out in the cold.   This month, Alberta yet again invoked  the “notwithstanding clause” to shield it

Dec. 22, 2025 “Canada’s problem is not a lack of potential physicians, but a failure of planning and foresight,” writes Dr. Debakant Jena. Dreamstime By Debakant Jena Contributor Dr. Debakant Jena is chief of orthopedic surgery at Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, associate professor at the University of Calgary and a first-generation immigrant to Canada. In May, 96-year-old retired teacher Dorothy Lamont  placed a small classified ad in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald titled “See

Ontario Premier Doug Ford proposed expanding the list of “minor ailments” that pharmacists can treat during a press conference at a Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy in Etobicoke on Jan. 11, 2023. Tijana Martin/The Canadian Press file photo Dec. 18, 2025 By Iris Gorfinkel, Contributor Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto.   Hardly a year passes that this doesn’t happen: a patient wakes up with a sore throat, but I’m away. It’s Christmas Day and th

Dec. 10, 2025 By Robin Lennox and Adil Shamji Contributors Robin Lennox is MPP (NDP) for Hamilton Centre. Adil Shamji is MPP (Liberal) for Don Valley East. Both are physicians with experience caring for Ontarians.   Dr. Robin Lennox, left, MPP for Hamilton Centre and Dr. Adil Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East, are part of a multi-party group of elected officials calling for universal pharmacare in Ontario. Alix Gould and Jenna Muirhead Across Ontario, too many people are making

Dec. 5, 2025 By Iris Gorfinkel, Contributor Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto. Ontario’s auditor general Shelley Spence speaks to media following the release of her annual report at the Ontario legislature on Tuesday. The report “glosses over the main reason why one-in-four Ontarians will have no family doctor by 2026,” writes Dr. Iris Gorfinkel. Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press file photo The auditor general’s latest report on primary care

By Isaac Callan & Colin D'Mello | Global News Posted December 2, 2025 Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Medicine is seen, in Brampton, Ont., on Aug. 25, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sammy Kogan  A lack of planning in the Ford government’s expansion of Ontario’s medical schools meant the province has created family medicine spaces more slowly than it had planned, the auditor general has found.   As part of its plans to improve access to primary care, the government anno

Watchdog Shelley Spence diagnosed a lack of effort to crack down on an estimated $1 billion in potential overcharges by physicians — including 59 who billed for more than 24 hours in a day.   Dec. 2, 2025 By Rob Ferguson Queen’s Park Bureau, and Robert Benzie Queen’s Park Bureau Chief Ontario’s auditor general Shelley Spence speaks to media following the release of her annual report at the Ontario legislature in Toronto, on Dec. 2, 2025. Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press   Premi

Tracy Glynn, Canadian Health Coalition November 28, 2025 With unprecedented attacks on Canada’s public health care system, hear from frontline defenders of public health care in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and B.C. who are using various strategies to protect Canada’s universal public health care system. From going to court to filing complaints, mobilizing experts and local activists, these champions of public health care are leading the charge for better Medicare.  Monday, Decem

Hospital News Published on November 27, 2025      New data from the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) show that Canadian physicians are sounding the alarm over government decisions threatening the health care system. The findings reveal doctors’ widespread concern about the impact on patient care, workforce stability and physician morale.   Recent government actions, such as Alberta’s Bill 26 and Quebec’s Bill 2, which interfere with doctors’ abilities to take care of their

Moving toward the creation of a National Health Service. Britain was the first western country to offer free at the point of use medical care to the whole population. A fundraising event to support the Waterloo Region Health Coalition. Waterloo Region Health Coalition November 19, 2025 1945 was a pivotal year in British history. The unity that carried Britain through the war allied to the bitter memories of the inter-war years led to a vision of a better society. The spirit o

A recent international comparison of healthcare systems ranked Australia as the top performer—Canada was ranked seventh. Jason M. Sutherland 11/11/2025 Creator: AlexLMX | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Emergency department closures. Long wait times for surgeries and specialist appointments.  Millions of Canadians without a primary healthcare provider .   Healthcare systems across Canada are struggling to provide timely and equitable access to healthcare services—at a time w

Once upon a time, Canada’s healthcare system was widely considered a model for the rest of the world, especially in countries where access to medical care was often tied to your job or your wealth. Not so any more...

It began as a light-hearted quip. “Call 1-800-Doug Ford … doctors, come see us,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford told Quebec physicians frustrated by the Legault government’s new doctor-compensation law.

Extra-billing and user fees are banned under the Canada Health Act and Ontario’s Public Medicare protection laws, yet increasingly, the private clinics are charging patients with impunity, the Ontario Health Coalition reports.