Open Letter to Minister Duclos and Minister Jones

Regarding the Canada-Ontario Home and Community Care and Mental Health and Addictions Services Funding Agreement

Minister Duclos and Minister Jones,

Canadians want to receive care at home and in their communities. 97% of Ontarians believe it is important to improve access to home and community care. They also want governments to enable them to make this choice by making investments in home and community care a priority. The Canada-Ontario Home and Community Care and Mental Health and Addictions Services Funding Agreement signed in 2017 reflects these priorities.

As you embark on negotiating the framework for the allocation of $1.2 billion annual funding until 2026-27, we’d like to take the opportunity to urge you to add health human resources as a key priority to the agreement.

The first five years of the agreement identified expanding access to home care, including palliative and end-of-life care, caregiver supports and information technology as priority areas for investments. It also led to the development of national indicators. These national indicators have been key in tracking the impact these investments have had on our health system.

Over the next five years, we will only be successful in keeping vulnerable people living at home if we shore up our sector’s health human resources. Across Canada there are a considerable number of people having their hospital stays unnecessarily extended and others admitted to long-term care earlier than necessary due to the lack of staff within the home and community care sector. This places additional burden on a struggling long-term care sector – and costs far more money than care in a home or community setting.

In Ontario at the end of January 2022, there were 567 people still in hospital waiting to be discharged home with home care service. This lack of capacity in the home and community care sector cost the province an additional $355,509 a day.

Further, a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information confirms that 1 in 9 newly admitted residents to long-term care in Canada could have been kept at home with the right supports in place. That means over 8,000 Ontarians could have stayed home and received the necessary supports in their communities.

Home and Community Care organizations are unable to continue or expand on current service levels without the ability to recruit and retain health human resources. Home and community care staff are leaving the sector in droves, many to other sectors where there are incentivized opportunities to take up similar roles. In September 2022, across the three key home and community care frontline positions (PSWs, RN, RPNs), 12.8% of positions were vacant in Ontario. This is almost double the rate of 6.8% in January 2021.

The reason so many positions are vacant is that staff in the home and community care sector are the lowest paid in the health system. PSWs in Ontario in home and community care are making on average approximately 21% less than PSWs in hospitals and 17% less than PSWs in long term care. The median salary wage gap for RNs working in home care versus hospitals is $11.00 an hour.

We urge you to include health human resources as a key priority in the Canada-Ontario Home and Community Care and Mental Health and Addictions Services Funding Agreement. It is only by implementing a comprehensive health human resource plan that tackles wage disparity, recruitment, and retention that we will be able to provide care for people where they need it most.

Thank you,

Deborah Simon

CEO

Ontario Community Support Association

More Updates

OCSA Welcomes Ontario Budget Investment in Home and Community Care

By Karla Sealy • March 27, 2026

Ontario, March 27, 2026 — The Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) welcomes the Ontario government’s continued investment in home care and community support services as part of the 2026 provincial budget. Building on recent commitments, this investment signals a sustained shift toward strengthening care in the home and community as a central pillar of Ontario’s health system. As demand continues to grow—driven by an aging population, increasing caregiver strain, and sustained pressure across hospitals and long-term care—expanding access to care outside of institutions is critical to improving system flow and long term sustainability. “We are listening closely to what Ontarians are telling us—and so is the government,” said Lori Holloway, CEO of OCSA. “People want to receive care at home and in their communities, surrounded by the people and supports that matter most. This investment reflects that reality and moves us further toward a system designed around where people actually want and need care.” Home care and community support services each play distinct but complementary roles. Home care provides essential clinical and personal care in the home, while community support services focus on prevention, independence, and quality of life through programs such as Meals on Wheels, transportation, adult day programs, and caregiver respite. Together, they form the foundation of a modern, community-based care system that helps people remain at home longer while reducing avoidable hospital use and delaying or preventing long-term care placement. This level of sustained investment has the potential to significantly expand access to care at home, strengthen community capacity, and improve outcomes for individuals and families across the province—while supporting a more balanced and sustainable health system overall. OCSA is committed to working with government and system partners to ensure these investments translate into real improvements in access, stronger community supports, and measurable impact for Ontarians. About OCSA The Ontario Community Support Association represents more than 200 not-for-profit organizations providing home care and community support services across the province. OCSA members deliver essential services that help people live independently, age at home, and reduce pressure on hospitals and long-term care. For media inquiries please contact: Karla Sealy (she/her) Manager of Communications 416-256-3010/1-800-267-6272, ext 242 karla.sealy@ocsa.on.ca

March for Meals 2026 Launches Across Ontario – Presented by apetito

By Karla Sealy • March 2, 2026

Province-wide campaign highlights Meals on Wheels as essential to community care

OCSA is part of the For Us For You campaign, a joint initiative lobbying to close the wage gap.

By Davina Yawson • February 13, 2026

Ontario relies on community health workers every day to treat illness, support mental health, provide care at home, help people live independently, and keep families well, and in many cases, they provide this care 24/7. They care for people of all ages and backgrounds, often with highly complex needs, and they are essential to achieving a sustainable and high performing healthcare system. Closing the wage gap is not simply about fairness; it is about protecting access to care, reducing system pressure, and ensuring Ontario ’ s healthcare investments deliver maximum impact. The ten provincial community health associations are committed to working collaboratively with the government to build a stable, sustainable community health workforce, which supports a stable and sustainable healthcare system, a goal we all share.