Ontario marks progress in attaching everyone in the province to primary care
Written by The Canadian Press on January 12, 2026
TORONTO — Ontario’s health minister says the province is on track to connect all Ontarians to a primary care provider by 2029, thanks in part to mostly clearing a wait list backlog.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones says about 275,000 people have been attached to primary care so far in the first year of the government’s plan.
More than half of that progress is due to moving people off the Health Care Connect wait list, but the auditor general has found it is underutilized, with just 11 per cent of people in need of a primary care provider on it and fewer than 10 per cent of family doctors enrolling patients from that list.
Jones says while Health Care Connect was not being used as efficiently as it could be, the government is committed to improving the system.
Dr. Jane Philpott, the former federal health minister, was appointed by the Ontario government about one year ago to lead a primary care action team and says that is an important focus in order to ensure people find a family doctor or nurse practitioner as quickly as possible.
Jones notes that the government is also funding new primary care teams across the province, new seats at medical schools and speeding up the licensing process for out-of-province doctors moving to Ontario to practice.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2025.
Allison Jones, The Canadian Press