-

“Pushed over the brink”: new research report to reveal full impact of austerity agenda on mounting Ontario hospital crisis as funds available for day-to-day bills plummet across the province

Media conference in Niagara Falls on Wednesday, August 5 to reveal full findings

NIAGARA FALLS, ON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new research report on Ontario’s hospital crisis highlights the destabilization of the sector through chronic underfunding and increasing privatization of healthcare services. These tactics are introducing additional strains on an already starving system and deepening the current government’s problems.

“Pushed over the brink: the escalating assault on Ontario’s hospitals” paints a picture of the dire conditions that hospitals are facing in the wake of Ford’s austerity agenda. Citing the latest data, the report shows concerning trends as daily operating budgets plummet and funding increases fail to match growing cost pressures.

While Ontario hospitals face rising deficits with no relief, job cuts and wait-times are accelerating across the province. These new problems compound the government’s failure to fix “hallway healthcare” as it promised.

CUPE will release the full findings of the report at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, August 5. This includes new data on London’s available working capital to pay day-to-day bills, bed occupancy rate, and the additional funds and staff needed to meet the average spending per capita of other provinces.

Who: Michael Hurley, President of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE) and Doug Allan, Senior Researcher at CUPE National

What: Media conference to release findings of research report on the hospital capacity and privatization crisis

Where: Niagara Falls Public Library, 4848 Victoria Ave, Niagara Falls ON

When: 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, August 5, 2026

kl/cope491

Contacts

For more information, contact:
Hayley Rivier-Gatt
CUPE Communications
hrivier-gatt@cupe.ca
(613) 986-3279

Industry:

Canadian Union of Public Employees

Release Versions
English

Contacts

For more information, contact:
Hayley Rivier-Gatt
CUPE Communications
hrivier-gatt@cupe.ca
(613) 986-3279

More News From Canadian Union of Public Employees

Essex-Windsor paramedics, represented by CUPE 2974, reach tentative agreement and avoid a strike

WINDSOR, ON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just four days before a possible strike, CUPE 2974 members and Essex-Windsor Emergency Medical Services (EWEMS) have reached a tentative agreement following months of negotiations. The parties worked through the evening on Monday to finalize the agreement after EWEMS returned to the table willing to move on several outstanding issues. “This came down to the wire but ultimately we came to an agreement that will make a difference for paramedics, help our service, and...

Ontario patient wait times increase as government funding favours for-profit providers while Ottawa hospital infrastructure is under-utilized

Ottawa, ON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ontario’s funding of for-profit surgical and medical imaging (MRI) services is increasing wait times and threatening public health care, says a new report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA). In Not adding up: Surgical and diagnostic privatization in Ontario, CCPA senior researcher Andrew Longhurst analyses data from Ontario’s 918 licensed private centres—called integrated community health services centres (ICHSCs)—and two private hospitals offer...

Toronto child care workers on picket lines after being locked out by Ideal Child Service Group

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Child care workers at Ideal Child Service Group (ICSG) represented by CUPE Local 2484 are on picket lines today after the employer locked out its workers and refused to negotiate a fair collective agreement with its workers that appropriately recognizes the value of their work and the reality of the high cost of living in Toronto. CUPE 2484 members at ICSG provide care and education to children at five locations across Toronto. Negotiations stalled after the employer r...
Back to Newsroom