Funding Cuts Plunging Public Health in Ontario into Crisis, Experts Warn
- Richie Assaly
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Ontario is facing a startling rise in infectious diseases, and public health inspectors say they know who to blame — Premier Doug Ford’s government.
by Richie Assaly
November 26, 2025
Frontline public health workers are sounding the alarm about the state of sexually transmitted infections, waterborne illnesses and measles.
The rapid spread of syphilis and chlamydia. The return of measles. Escalating risks of E. coli and salmonella in Ontario drinking water.
A group of unionized health inspectors described a deteriorating public health system in Ontario at a media briefing held Wednesday morning at Queen’s Park. And they placed the blame squarely at the feet of the Ford government, citing the fact that funding for public health has been slashed below pre-pandemic levels.
“What will it take?” Merima Kostecki, an inspector for Southeast Public Health asked reporters during the briefing. “Another Walkerton?” In 2000, following budget cuts, there was a massive E. coli outbreak in the Ontario town of Walkerton, killing seven and sickening 2,000 others.
Ontario’s public health programs and agencies — which are distinct from the province’s hospitals and health care services — focus on disease prevention and control, screening for health conditions, and public education. Kostecki and two other inspectors unionized with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) focused on three categories of public health where they are seeing rapid declines.
The first was infectious diseases, and specifically measles. The highly contagious infectious disease was nearly eradicated in Canada, but came raging back in recent years through a combination of vaccine hesitancy, disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic and misinformation. This year, Canada has recorded 4,855 confirmed and another 367 probable measles cases, including 2,056 confirmed and 320 probable cases across Ontario.
The second category was sexual health. The inspectors noted that chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are all on the rise, including a 1,685% increase in syphilis rates in the Sault and Algoma District between 2019 to 2023.
“These diseases are preventable, they are treatable, they were nearly wiped-out decades ago – and now they’re spreading across Ontario,” Kostecki said. “We have children being born with congenital syphilis and measles. This is unacceptable, and it’s a direct result of this government’s choices that have shattered our public health system.”
