Health care employment in Ontario and Canada
Hospital employees in Ontario form a much smaller part of the population than in the rest of Canada – in 2014 about 0.32 % less of the population than in…
Doug Allan
Rapid change in public hospital services
Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) hospital data indicates big changes in hospital activity, particularly in the most recent four years reported. Ontario, especially, is experimenting with hospital cuts and…
Public sector employment in Ontario is far below the rest of Canada
The suggestion that Ontario has a deficit because its public sector is too large does not bear scrutiny. Consider the following. Public sector employment has fallen in the last three…
Hospital worker sick leave: too much or too little?
Ontario hospital workers are much less absent due to illness or disability than hospital workers Canada-wide. In 2014, Ontario hospital workers were absent 10.2 days due to illness or disability,…
The growing role of Practical Nurses
New Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data paints a picture of rapid change in nursing in Ontario, especially for Practical Nurses (called “RPNs” in Ontario) . Here is a…
Lowest health care funding increase ever?
Funding increase hits new low: The Ontario government plans health sector spending growth of 1.2% this year compared with the interim spending estimate for 2014/15. This deepens the trend to…
Paramedic Services in Canada: Structure, Privatization, Unionization and other issues
Governance and Funding: While police and fire services are usually municipal services, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are typically controlled by provincial governments. In Ontario, regional municipal governments have responsibility for…
Why long-term care needs to improve
CUPE and OCHU are campaigning for a legislated minimum average of four worked hours of nursing and personal care per resident per day in long-term care (LTC) facilities. Key points:…
Cascading cuts result in new home care restructuring
The government is coordinating cascading efforts to move patients from organizations where more care is provided to where less care is provided. For hospitals, government funding models and directives have…
Ontario elder care: fewer staff, more privatization, more private payment
A new report sponsored by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and completed by Statistics Canada indicates that staffing at Ontario long-term care facilities (LTC) falls short of other provinces.…
Ontario fastest growing province. But public services get zip
Four of the big Canadian banks have come out with new forecasts for the Ontario economy and they all indicate the economy is improving. The fall in the price of…
Ontario funding plan is LESS than Harper federal transfers
The federal transfers are out for 2015/16 and Ontario has done well –$1.253 billion or 6.5% more than the total federal transfers to Ontario for 2014/15. The total increase in…
Ontario set to beat deficit target – despite media reports
There was much gloom in the corporate media’s reports on the Ontario government’s Budget follow-up, the Fall Economic Statement. The Globe and Mail headlined their front page report on the…
Public sector wage settlements fall behind the private sector — and inflation
Have broader public sector workers received larger than average wage settlements than private sector workers? Have broader public sector settlements exceeded inflation? The Ontario Ministry of Labour has just released…
For-profit LTC beds attract fewer applicants than not-for-profit beds
Government data suggests for-profit long-term care beds are less desired by the public than not-for-profit beds. There are long wait lists for a beds in long-term care (LTC) facilities. (This…
Sharp decline in for-profit health insurance efficiency costs employers
A new study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal shows sharply increasing inefficiency in the Canadian for-profit health care insurance industry. The study indicates that less and less of the…
Ontario’s answer to the deficit: 35 years of revenue cuts
In a recent long-term report on the economy, the Ontario government recognized that own-source Ontario government revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) has declined over the last…
Rising inflation and a shrinking Ontario deficit?
Revenue prospects for this year: An earlier post looked at poor job creation in Ontario and the impact that might have on obtaining the revenue goals the government has set…