"We will also increase rates for the Northern Health Travel Grant to help ease the cost burden on patients and their families who have to travel to get care." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Ontario needs a centralized referral system that covers the entire province and its specialties. From pediatrics to adult care, wait times vary greatly for diagnostic imaging, surgical and specialist access. A centralized referral system would connect patients to care faster. The Ford government promised this in their Your Health plan but have not delivered." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will fund the addition of detox beds and residential treatment beds." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will increase funding to community mental health service providers, like CMHA and AMHO, that provide crucial services to help people with addictions." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

Funding community centres specifically for drug users, making rehabilitation centres a public utility with services provided free of charge, and increasing peer-driven and community-focused education programs.

To ensure a safe and free supply of drugs to users through prescription programs along with humane treatment plans in order to prevent further overdose deaths.

Utilize increased public revenue to finance comprehensive public health care services including alcohol addiction treatment.

"Supporting strict and severe mandatory minimum sentences for criminals convicted of drug trafficking, while ensuring landlords are held liable for knowingly hosting illicit drug production and trafficking sites." — ontariopc.ca, retrieved 2025-02-19

"Working with the federal government to enact new authorities for the RCMP, border agents and regional and local law enforcement to identify, detect and confiscate pill presses, precursor chemicals and lab equipment if law enforcement determine that the intent is to produce fentanyl or other illicit drugs." — ontariopc.ca, retrieved 2025-02-19

"Increase inspections of all point-of-origin containers at shipping yards, ports, rail yards and airports from China, the frequent source of fentanyl and other illicit drugs that are plaguing Canadian and American communities." — ontariopc.ca, retrieved 2025-02-19

"We will ensure you can call 911 from everywhere in the North and improve access to emergency medical services. We will return to 90/10 cost sharing with municipalities for ambulance services for two years to get more ambulances and paramedics on the road while maintaining locally focused delivery in partnership with municipal service managers." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for the North, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will accelerate the approval of team-based primary care proposals from Community Health Centres, Nurse Practitioner Led Clinics, and Indigenous Primary Care Organizations that have submitted applications but still await review and funding." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will unlock more time for doctors to spend with patients by cutting the administrative burden and connecting doctors to a support team." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Patients Ahead of Paperwork: Family doctors are spending up to 20 hours a week, the equivalent of more than two days of full-time work, on the paperwork burden — filling out lengthy forms, writing unnecessary sick notes for employers — time that eats away at the amount of time doctors can spend with patients. Taking paperwork off of doctors’ desks will allow them to see an avg of 20 more patients a day.

• The Ontario Medical Association estimates that 40-50% of their time can be freed up when doctors are connected to team-based care. By reducing the amount of time doctors spend on administrative work, we can unlock thousands of hours for doctors to spend with patients and significantly increase the number of patients that each doctor can roster.

• We will streamline time-consuming administrative tasks and reduce the number of forms that are required to be filled out by a doctor

• We will invest in a surge of additional healthcare staff so that doctors can spend their time being doctors." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will add 3,500 doctors to the primary care system over four years. We will increase residency spots in medical schools and clear barriers for the 13,000 internationally trained and ready-to-practice doctors in Ontario who are ready to enter the healthcare workforce." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will pay community health workers fairly to make sure the sector does not fall behind. We will increase residency seats and licensing opportunities for internationally trained doctors and healthcare workers already here in Ontario who are not yet able to practice.

• We will add 3,500 doctors to the primary care system by increasing residency spots in medical schools and incentivizing new graduates to stay in primary care by connecting them to an interdisciplinary team.

• We will clear barriers for the 13,000 internationally trained and ready-to-practice doctors to enter the healthcare workforce." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Ontario needs a centralized referral system that covers the entire province and its specialties. From pediatrics to adult care, wait times vary greatly for diagnostic imaging, surgical and specialist access. A centralized referral system would connect patients to care faster. The Ford government promised this in their Your Health plan but have not delivered." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will invest $4.1 billion over four years to ensure everyone in Ontario has access to team-based primary care." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Stop the practice of “negation,” where your family doctor has to pay when you receive care from a walk-in clinic, and patients can face “deregistration” and lose their doctor as a result." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"Make sure workers in the community health sector are paid fairly. Ontario needs to invest in a base budget increase of 5% or $33.7 million annually for community-governed comprehensive primary health care organizations. Members have only seen a 6% increase over 27 years." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will bring in safe nurse-patient ratios for better care and end the reliance on for-profit private nursing agencies that are costing hospitals hundreds of millions of dollars." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will establish a Northern Command Centre to support recruitment, gather data on system capacity, and quickly identify emerging workforce issues." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will increase funding to locum programs and opportunities for educational and targeted skills development in northern Ontario, building local knowledge and a skillset suited for the unique challenges of medicine in remote communities." — ontariondp.ca, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will eliminate parking fees at hospitals for staff, visitors and patients. No one should be worried about paying for parking at a hospital during an affordability crisis, whether you are a patient, a loved one, a front-line worker or a doctor." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will ensure Francophones and First Nations receive reliable home care and long-term care in their language by creating culturally appropriate training, and care that reflects their language and culture. Seniors deserve personal, familiar care, and we will make that a reality. We will work with University of Sudbury and Nipissing University to support northern students to stay and work in Northern communities." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for the North, retrieved 2025-02-20

This includes funding for adequate and well-paid staff and sufficient protective equipment and procedures.

"We will increase funding to community mental health service providers, like CMHA and AMHO, that provide crucial services to help people with addictions." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will establish wage parity for health care workers in community settings to ensure community primary care providers can also offer mental health support." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will return the midwifery program to Sudbury University to increase access to labour and delivery services while growing our francophone health care workforce." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for the North, retrieved 2025-02-20

This includes temporary foreign workers, international students, and refugees; and eliminate health premiums, co-payments and the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP).

"We will make it easier for seniors to age at home safely with reliable access to home care and a monthly Caregiver Benefit for those caring for loved ones at home. We will make it more affordable for seniors to make renovations that will help them age at home." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for Southwest Ontario & Niagara, retrieved 2025-02-20

"We will ensure Francophones and First Nations receive reliable home care and long-term care in their language by creating culturally appropriate training, and care that reflects their language and culture. Seniors deserve personal, familiar care, and we will make that a reality. We will work with University of Sudbury and Nipissing University to support northern students to stay and work in Northern communities." — On Your Side: The Ontario NDP Plan for the North, retrieved 2025-02-20