Ontario Investing Over $1.8 Billion to Connect Every Person in Ontario to a Family Doctor and Primary Care Teams

Historic investments to be delivered through Dr. Jane Philpott’s Primary Care Action Plan

NEWSJanuary 27, 2025

TORONTO — The Ontario government is investing $1.8 billion to connect two million more people to a publicly funded family doctor or primary care team within four years, which will achieve the government’s goal of connecting everyone in the province to a family doctor or primary care team. This investment includes $1.4 billion in new funding, alongside more than $400 million in already-approved funding for primary care.

“Through our government’s record investments in primary care, we have been able to achieve the highest rate of access to regular health care providers in the country,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “With this historic, transformative investment, we can now achieve our goal of connecting every person in the province who wants a primary care provider.”

Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team, led by Dr. Jane Philpott, will use the government’s historic investment to implement its action plan to build a primary care system that draws on best-in-class models from across the province and connects everyone to a family doctor or primary care team. Interprofessional primary care teams are made up of a family physician or nurse practitioner and other health care professionals such as nurses, physician assistants, social workers, dieticians and more.

“Together we will build a primary care system that is comprehensive, convenient, and connected for every single person in Ontario,” said Dr. Jane Philpott. “In every community, your primary care team will be your front door to care, where you have a team of clinicians providing care you can access in a timely way, close to home.”

Since 2018, Ontario has added over 15,000 new physicians to its health-care workforce, including a 10 per cent increase in family doctors. Through the Your Health plan, Ontario invested $110 million in primary care teams across the province, helping to connect 328,000 more people to primary care close to home. Ontario has also opened two new medical schools and increased the number of medical school seats to add 260 undergraduate seats and 80 undergraduate seats at York University, as well as 449 postgraduate positions and 102 postgraduate positions at York University.

As a next step, Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan will implement a broad series of initiatives in collaboration with primary care leaders and health system partners that will close the gap for the remaining 10 per cent of people in the province in need of primary care by 2029. Key initiatives include:

Connecting You to a Primary Care Team

  • Creating and expanding 305 additional teams to attach approximately two million people to primary care, including more than $235 million in 2025-26 to establish and expand 80 additional primary care teams across the province, attaching 300,000 more people to primary care this year.
  • To support this initiative, be the first jurisdiction to introduce legislation that, if passed, would establish best-in-class standards outlining what people in Ontario can expect when accessing primary care services across the province.
  • To improve transparency, provide regular public updates on progress and performance tied to this initiative, with reporting on the following metrics:
    • Number of people who have ongoing attachment to primary care.
    • Percentage of primary care providers who work in interdisciplinary teams.
    • Percentage of people who can get an appointment on the same day or next day when needed.
    • Percentage of people who can access their health records online.

Making Primary Care More Connected and Convenient

  • Modernize Health Care Connect to improve the user and provider experience with the goal of establishing a wait time target of no more than 12 months to be connected with a primary care team.
  • Attach everyone currently on the Health Care Connect waitlist (as of January 1, 2025) to a primary care team by Spring 2026.
  • Enhance digital tools for providers and patients, improving patient navigation, reducing administrative burden, modernizing information sharing and improving the referral process. Leverage Health811 to view online health records, book an appointment with a primary care provider and discover care options.
  • Set regular performance indicators of primary care teams, including the number of patients attached, to ensure teams reach their maximum impact in connecting people to care.

Supporting Primary Care Providers

  • Introduce targeted strategies to recruit and retain the workforce needed to support primary care providers and teams, including family doctors, nurse practitioners and other allied health care professionals. This includes continuing to address administrative burden with digital tools, targeted recruitment and retention strategies for northern and rural communities, and ensuring all of Ontario’s highly qualified health care professionals can work to their full scope of practice.
  • Add and expand the number of community-based primary care teaching clinics in collaboration academic institutions and other partners. These new and expanded teaching clinics would support new primary care learners (e.g., physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and registered nurses) in communities across the province, prioritizing underserved communities as new learners often choose to practice where they are. 

Closing the Gap

Through the action plan, two million more people will be connected to primary care by 2029.

 2025-26 2026-272027-282028-29Total
New people attached300,000+500,000+600,000+600,0002,000,000
New primary care teams added76+73+78+78305

Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government continues to take bold and decisive action to grow the province’s highly-skilled health care workforce and ensure people and their families have access to high-quality care closer to home for generations to come.


Quick Facts

  • The government’s plan is designed to attach approximately two million people to a primary care provider if they want one. The Ministry of Health continues to work with academic and health system partners to validate the number of Ontarians who are attached to a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
  • Through Health811, Ontarians can chat online or call 811 to talk to a registered nurse day or night for free in multiple languages. You can also use the service to sign up for Health Care Connect if you are looking for a family doctor or nurse practitioner, and find services like community health centres, mental health support, or walk-in clinics close to where you live.
  • Starting in 2025, up to 100 internationally trained physicians with training in family medicine who have completed their field assessment will begin practicing as a family doctor in northern and rural communities.
  • Starting in 2026, the government is investing an estimated $88 million over three years to expand Learn and Stay grants for 1,360 eligible undergraduate students that commit to practice family medicine with a full roster of patients once they graduate.
  • Over the last two years, the government has added an additional 150 training positions for Nurse Practitioners, bringing the total number of government funded positions from 200 to up to 350.

Quotes

“Congratulations to Dr. Philpott and her team and the government of Ontario. This is a significant investment in primary care and Ontario’s doctors are encouraged with the goal to attach more patients to family medicine over the next four years.” said Kimberly Moran, CEO, Ontario Medical Association. “There is a substantial amount to do to ensure every Ontarian has access to a family doctor and we look forward to partnering with Dr. Philpott and the government to co-design this plan. We urge the government to work with the OMA to retain the family doctors we have, encourage those who left to come back, and demonstrate a viable future for those considering this field. We share the government’s desire to improve patient access to family medicine and we look forward to the results of this announcement.”

– Kimberly Moran
CEO, Ontario Medical Association

“RNAO welcomes today’s announcement that every Ontarian will have access to primary care through a family physician or nurse practitioner (NP) working with a team of registered nurses, social workers, dieticians and more. “A robust primary care sector is the hallmark of a high functioning system.”

– Dr. Doris Grinspun
CEO, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)

“As an NP myself, I know primary care holds the key to improving health outcomes for all. Monday’s announcement answers RNAO’s long-standing call for the full utilization of Ontario’s 5,300 NPs to address the province’s primary care access crisis.”

– Lhamo Dolkar
President, Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)

“NPAO welcomes the government’s $1.8 billion investment to strengthen primary care and expand access for millions of Ontarians. Nurse practitioners are well-positioned to play a key role in addressing gaps in primary care, and we look forward to partnering with the government on this initiative to advance high-quality, accessible care for all.”

– Michelle Acorn
CEO, Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO)

“Nurse practitioners (NPs) are pleased to see the Ontario government take meaningful action to address access to primary care in the province. We are particularly encouraged by the goal of attaching two million people to primary care, many directly with an NP. Nurse practitioners are eager to leverage the full extent of their training and expertise to deliver the primary care Ontarians deserve.”

– Barbara Bailey
President, Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario (NPAO)

“This is great news for family physicians and Ontarians. The Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) is encouraged by the quick progress made by the Ontario Primary Care Action Team, led by Dr. Jane Philpott, and today’s commitment to expand access to integrated primary care teams and enhance digital tools for family physicians. This announcement recognizes the foundational role family physicians play in our health care system and reflects the OCFP’s long-standing advocacy for team-based care and the use of new technology to better support family doctors. The implementation of this plan will be critical – we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the government and Dr. Philpott to ensuring every Ontarian has access to a family physician and receiving the primary health care they deserve.”

– Dr. Jobin Varughese
Family Doctor, President, Ontario College of Family Physicians

“This investment acknowledges the critical need for accountability and the right support to drive meaningful progress. The Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO), representing 190 member organizations across the province, is encouraged by this commitment and remains ready to collaborate with the Government of Ontario. We are focused on ensuring that every Ontarian has access to high-quality, team-based primary care. As we move forward, we must recognize that the job ahead is complex and requires a co-design approach. True success will come from working together—government, health professionals, and communities—to ensure that investments are targeted in the right areas, and that primary care leadership plays a central role in the design, implementation, and integration of new initiatives. The work ahead is vital, and AFHTO is committed to being a key partner in shaping solutions that will benefit all Ontarians.”

– Jess Rogers
CEO, Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario (AFHTO)


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