Monday, January 12, 2026
Ontario Marks One Year Milestone in Primary Care Action Plan
Province on track to attach every Ontario resident to primary care by 2029
Ontario is marking one year of progress on its $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan, which is already delivering results and connecting more people to convenient care as part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario’s health-care system. Since the initiative began, Ontario has already attached over 275,000 new patients to a primary care provider, putting the province on track to meet or exceed its target of connecting 300,000 new people to care in 2025-26 and every Ontarian to a primary care provider by 2029.
“Our government is protecting Ontario’s health-care system and leading the country with investments that give Ontarians the highest rate of access to a regular health-care provider in Canada,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “I’m incredibly proud of the progress we’ve made in the first year of our plan as we continue to take bold action to connect every Ontarian to care and help more people live fuller, more active lives.”
The government established the Primary Care Action Team (PCAT), led by Dr. Jane Philpott on December 1, 2024, with a mandate to connect every Ontarian to primary care by 2029. Building on this momentum, Ontario launched the Primary Care Action Plan on January 27, 2025, supported by a historic $2.1 billion provincial investment.
While Ontario continues to lead the country in access to care, the province has set clear goals to close the remaining gap and connect every person to primary care, beginning with clearing the Health Care Connect waitlist as of January 1, 2025. As of this week, that waitlist has been reduced by more than 75 per cent as the plan continues to hit its targets and deliver faster access to high-quality care.
“Together we are building a primary care system that is comprehensive, convenient and connected for every person in Ontario,” said Dr. Jane Philpott, Chair of Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team. “With historic investments and strong collaboration, Ontario is making real progress toward ensuring that everyone has timely access to a family doctor, nurse practitioner or primary care team close to home.”
Progress under the $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan is supported by a wide range of new government initiatives, focused on strengthening Ontario’s health human resources, and enabling the province to meet and exceed its targets including but not limited to the following recent actions:
- Investing $110 million in 2024-25 to expand interprofessional primary care teams, already connecting more than 490,000 people to care.
- Investing $235 million to fund over 130 new and expanded primary care teams, connecting 300,000 people, with approximately 55,300 already attached.
- Investing $250 million to add approximately 75 new and expanded teams, helping 500,000 Ontarians connect to primary care in 2026-27, prioritizing those on the Health Care Connect waitlist.
- Expanding scopes of practice for regulated health professionals, such as pharmacists, has helped improve access to health services for Ontarians.
- Accelerating licensure for qualified out-of-province and U.S.-licensed health professionals, already attracting over 1,700 new nurses and over 450 doctors to Ontario this year alone.
- Delivering a once-in-a-generation medical school expansion, including two new schools and an increased number of medical school seats, resulting in 340 undergraduate and over 550 postgraduate positions to train the next generation of physicians.
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:
- Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team is drawing on best-in-class models of care to implement its action plan, supported by the government’s investment of more than $2.1 billion to connect approximately two million more people to primary care by 2029, which will achieve the government’s goal of connecting everyone in the province to primary care.
- Ontario’s Primary Care Act establishes primary care as the foundation of Ontario’s health-care system and sets out six clear objectives for Ontario’s publicly funded primary care system to ensure people know what they can expect when connecting to primary care.’
- According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Ontario leads the country with access to a regular health-care provider.
- Since 2018, Ontario has added nearly 20,000 additional physicians to its health-care workforce, including an over 14 per cent increase in family doctors.
- Under the current Physician Services Agreement, Ontario currently spends over $20 billion to connect people to doctors, including primary care, specialists, and other services across the province.
Additional Resources:
Media Contacts:
Ema Popovic
Minister Jones’ Office
ema.popovic@ontario.ca
Media Relations
Communications Branch
media.moh@ontario.ca
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