The funds hospitals use to pay day-to-day bills have plummeted by $2.2 billion since 2020, says new report

Rapidly increasing costs, austerity funding policies and record 1,300 job cuts push Ontario’s hospitals beyond the brink

OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ontario’s hospital crisis has hit a boiling point, says new report released today by CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE). Citing the latest data, Pushed over the brink: the escalating assault on Ontario’s hospitals highlights the dire conditions that hospitals are facing in the wake of Ford’s austerity agenda.

In the past six years Ontario hospitals have seen a massive drop in their working capital, the funds available to cover daily expenses, including payroll and medical supplies. This figure has plummeted from $2 billion in 2020, to negative $280 million at the end of last year. Ottawa’s working capital is negative $135 million. As a result, many hospitals have been forced to borrow cash to make ends meet.

According to the report, deliberate underfunding, understaffing and the further privatization of hospital services has led to emergency room closures, higher wait-times and reduced quality of care across the province.

Significant funding cuts deepen hospital sector crisis

Despite rising costs of over 6 percent annually, the Ford government will only increase hospital funding by 3.3 percent for 2026/2027.

“Hospitals need 6 percent annual increases simply to maintain services,” says Michael Hurley, the president of OCHU/CUPE, which represents 40,000 hospital workers across the province. “The Ford government has cut hospital budgets in real terms, year after year, resulting in a loss of beds and staff in the face of significant utilization pressures from an aging population.”

Meanwhile, cost pressures and demand are rising. Hospitalizations have increased significantly over the last decade, amounting to 2 million extra hospital inpatient days. The average length of stay per patient has also risen 15 percent.

According to Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data, Ontario hospitals receive the least provincial funding in the country. Ottawa hospitals need $355 million in order to reduce wait-times, add beds and meet the average spending per capita of other provinces.

While Ford ran on the promise of ending “hallway healthcare”, CUPE says it has doubled under his leadership – from less than 1000 average daily hallway patients in 2018 to nearly 2000 in 2024. Lack of capacity has resulted in alarmingly high bed occupancy rates – regularly over the safe level of 80 percent, with Ottawa sitting at a staggering 100 percent.

Chronic understaffing despite rising demand

Hospital operating deficits reached over $400 million in 2025, with Ottawa’s at $38 million. Despite dramatically lower staffing levels than the rest of the country, Ontario hospitals are managing their shortfalls by actively cutting workers. This has resulted in the loss of over 1,300 jobs in the past year alone. Even before the cuts, Ottawa needed 5,321 more full-time staff to match the capacity of other provinces.

“Funding cuts are driving the staffing crisis facing Ontario hospitals,” says Hurley. “We’ve seen emergency rooms across the province regularly forced to close, and wait times everywhere are continuing to rise. Patients are suffering. It’s unacceptable.”

The true cost of privatization

As public funding falters, investment in private health services has increased. The Ford government cites wait-times as a driving factor toward privatization, yet research shows that the opposite is true. In the example of cataract surgeries in Ontario, patients saw an increase of 12 percent in wait times with the introduction of private clinics.

“Privatization is not the solution. The research is clear, when we privatize services not only does the level of care suffer, but we’re paying much more for longer wait-times, further delays to treatment and reduced access for everyone but the most wealthy,” Hurley adds.

CUPE is calling for a commitment of $5 billion in funding to the Ontario hospital sector in order to make up for the growing lack of capacity and capital to adequately staff facilities and treat patients. Multi-year funding, a halt to privatization and the implementation of nurse-to-patient ratios are also cited as solutions to the deepening crisis.

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