Today, AFHTO shared our response to Ontario's 2024 Fall Economic Statement, which overlooked the urgent need for investment in the primary care sector to address our growing health human resources challenges. We continue our work to raise awareness of this issue and call on government to urgently address this crisis. 

While we recognize this is disappointing news, it has never been more important to continue to raise awareness and call for solutions in the lead-up to the 2025 Ontario Budget and a potential provincial election in early 2025. We have launched a petition urging the Ontario government to take action to close the significant wage gap in the community health sector and support our workforce. We are planning to have this petition read in the provincial legislature to raise further awareness of this issue.  

We ask each member of your organization to sign and share the petition today. The more signatures we get, the louder our message will be to decisionmakers. 

Please sign the petition and share it widely with your networks, including your broader community. Every signature counts. 



At last week’s conference, AFHTO heard your feedback on the HHR issue and broader advocacy loud and clear. We will continue our efforts to advocate on this issue by: 

• Engaging with local and provincial media (recent examples listed below): 
• AM800 The Shift – Windsor - Link to radio interview 
• Newstalk 610 – Niagara - Link to radio interview 
• Sudbury.com article: https://www.sudbury.com/local-news/wage-gap-in-community-health-care-impacting-wait-times-9705891 
• CTV London article and video: https://london.ctvnews.ca/ontario-s-community-health-centres-sound-the-alarm-about-staffing-shortages-due-to-widening-wage-gap-1.7091579 
• Planning a Queen’s Park press conference/media day for early December 
• Engaging with the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health to provide more data on the HHR issue and how it impacts Ontarians 
• Continuing to support local efforts with tools and consultation on letters and MPP meetings 
• Formally engaging with members of the opposition 
• Formalizing a primary care specific, and AFHTO specific, HHR funding ask to submit to government during the prebudget cycle 
• Formulating, in collaboration with our partners, what an additional ask would be for retroactive pay  
• Considering mobilizing members for a march at Queen’s Park in advance of next year’s potential provincial election 

We know that AFHTO needs to look at strengthening our advocacy role to ensure member voices are heard. While collective advocacy strengthens messaging, AFHTO needs to do more to speak directly to primary care and our members’ HHR needs specifically.    

We also heard that AFHTO should recalibrate our messaging around HHR in primary care. Ontario Health has indicated to us and executive directors that government is not conceptualizing the HHR problem due to a lack of reported vacancies. Turnover rates, and programmatic/patient impact data needs to be front and center to make the case stronger. AFHTO is working on a business case to outline the HHR issue for primary care specifically, and will be sharing this business case with Ontario Health in the coming weeks.   

We appreciate your feedback and continued efforts to engage in local advocacy. 

Jess Rogers, CEO 

AFHTO