Ontario signs $3B health-care deal with feds to increase access to doctors, reduce wait times

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has signed a $3.1-billion health-care deal with the federal government to increase access to primary care and reduce wait times.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has signed a $3.1-billion health-care deal with the federal government to increase access to primary care and reduce wait times.

The agreement was announced by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau late Friday morning, making Ontario the fifth province to come to an agreement with Ottawa for its share of a $200-billion health accord.

The other provinces with agreements include British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta and Nova Scotia.

The announcement comes almost a year after the two governments reached a 10-year deal in principle to pay for health care in Ontario, with an additional $46 billion in funding to the Canada Health Transfer.

Premiers have been asking the federal government to increase their annual health transfers to cover 35 per cent of their health budgets, up from 22 per cent.

This kind of increase would have amounted to about $28 billion a year, with an additional five per cent annually after that.

About a year ago, Ottawa said its bilateral deal with Ontario included $8.4 billion and a one-time top-up of $776 million to address “urgent needs” in pediatric hospitals and emergency rooms.