Saturday January 24                       10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Sunday January 25                          9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Central YMCA, 20 Grosvenor Street, Toronto You can come in person or join by Zoom. Everyone must register to attend.   Posted 8 Jan. 2026 By the Ontario Health Coalition       THIS IS OUR MOST IMPORTANT MEETING OF THE YEAR. Hear local coalitions from all over the province report in on the fightback. Learn what the Ford and Carney governments have planne

Ontario Health Coalition Urgent Briefing December 16, 2025  Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pictured speaking at a news conference earlier this year. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press) Alberta's government, led by Danielle Smith and the United Conservative Party, passed a new law, Bill 11 The Health Statutes Amendment Act, last week. With its passage the existential threat for public medicare in Canada is here. The new law sets up two-tier medicare and private health insuranc

December 11 2025 Canadian Health Coalition   Alberta has passed dangerous legislation  that threatens public health care across Canada.   What's happening:   Bill 11: The Health Statutes Amendment Act, 202 (No. 2 ) , allows doctors to charge unlimited fees at for-profit clinics for medically necessary procedures while also working in the public system. This is American-style health care that opens our system to private insurance corporations.   Alberta is creating two-tiered

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

By Codi Wilson Published: December 08, 2025 at 1:44 PM EST Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones speaks at a news conference on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025.   The province says early next year it will be issuing licences to four new community surgical and diagnostic centres to perform orthopedic surgeries in Ontario.   The move is part of the Ford government’s plan to spend $125 million over the next two years to ramp up orthopedic surgeries at private clinics , allowing the centres

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

Ontario Today with Amanda Pfeffer Nov. 26, 2025 The move by Alberta has raised a debate across Canada about whether the expansion of private options can fix long delays and wait lists. Here in Ontario, we’ve seen a growing number of private options even for primary care including subscription-based access to nurse practitioners and private clinics. There are online primary care options through sites like Maple.   In a bid to take on long surgery waitlists in hospitals, the Fo

By Iris Gorfinkel Contributor Iris Gorfinkel is a family physician and clinical researcher in Toronto. Nov. 27, 2025 Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, left, and Matt Jones, minister of hospitals, make a health-care announcement in Calgary on Friday. Smith has said, “Health care shouldn’t be about blind and outdated ideologies or politics.” Writes Iris Gorfinkel: “Let’s hope she wasn’t referring to universal public health care.” Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press Ontarians need to

Carney government's recent budget missing cash for nationwide expansion Marina von Stackelberg · CBC News · Posted: Nov 21, 2025 Only B.C., Manitoba, P.E.I. and Yukon have signed deals with the federal government to have contraceptive and diabetes medication paid for by Ottawa. With just four pharmacare deals, only about 17 per cent of the Canadian population is covered. (Amber Bracken/The Canadian Press) Canada’s public pharmacare program appears to be in limbo, with the fed

CBC News | 20 Nov 2025 A new analysis from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looked at 25 countries and found those with more privatized health care fared worse on seven mortality indicators. The report comes as several provinces pursue privatizing some health-care services. Mortality and health care privatization: A comparison between countries Written by Anne Plourde , Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives "The main finding of this analysis is unequivocal: there

He was the cream of the crop of medical graduates in India. When he came to Ottawa, the geriatric specialist was left applying for jobs at Tim Hortons. By Elizabeth Payne Published Nov 18, 2025 Ashok Kumar Biswas is an internationally trained doctor with a lot of experience who has been volunteering and working toward applying to be a resident in Ontario. A recent rule change that makes it harder for international physicians to apply has dashed his hopes. Photo by TONY CALDWE

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

Polls indicate approximately 80% of Ontarians think the Ford government is doing a poor or very poor job on health care. Posted November 13, 2025 by the Ontario Health Coalition   When:         Saturday January 25 from 10 am - 4:30 pm                      Sunday January 26 from 9 am - 12:30 pm Where:        Central YMCA, 20 Grosvenor Street, Toronto & virtually via Zoom (see below) Featuring keynote speaker: Author, journalist, social activist Linda McQuaig   Come and hear wh

CBC News: The National 11 Nov 2025 Video Length 2:10 minutes As some Canadian provinces outsource certain surgeries to for-profit clinics, new research comparing the models in England and Scotland suggests shifting to private clinics can lead to longer wait times, reduced hospital capacity and increased inequality to access to care.

The signal from the budget is that health transfers, social transfers, equalizations — those things are not going to change. There’s no room for negotiation.

The decision to have a universal public health care system is always political. ~ Professor Allyson Pollock, 2016

Canada cannot afford to not invest in public health care. Carney's first budget, released on Nov. 4, has money for hospitals and beds but fails to support the retention of health care workers.

The Canada Health Act bans user fees and extra-billing, but it only works if we demand that the federal government enforces it so that provinces that violate the bans are shamed into coming back into compliance.

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.