January 10th Weekly Update

Local Pharmacies Now a One-Stop-Shop for Thirteen Common Ailments

Ontario is making it more convenient for people to connect to care closer to home by launching pharmacist prescribing for some of the most common medical ailments.

As of January 1, 2023, Ontarians can able to stop in at pharmacies across the province to receive prescriptions for thirteen common ailments, including rashes, pink eye, insect bites and urinary tract infections with just their health card. This service makes it more convenient to access care by removing the need for a doctor’s office visit and is available at no extra cost to users.

“Stopping by your local pharmacy for quick and easy access to treatment for some of your most common ailments increases your access to the care you need closer to home,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Expanding the ability of pharmacists to provide care is one more way we’re putting people at the centre of our health care system, making it easier, faster and more convenient to access health care in their community.”

Pharmacists will be able to offer prescriptions for:

• hay fever (allergic rhinitis);
• oral thrush (candidal stomatitis);
• pink eye (conjunctivitis; bacterial, allergic and viral);
• dermatitis (atopic, eczema, allergic and contact);
• menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea);
• acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD));
• hemorrhoids;
• cold sores (herpes labialis);
• impetigo;
• insect bites and hives;
• tick bites (post-exposure prophylaxis to prevent Lyme disease);
• sprains and strains (musculoskeletal); and
• urinary tract infections (UTIs).

“Project Arrow is a true testament to Canadian ingenuity, hard work, and determination,” said Raed Kadri, Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Head of the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network at the Ontario Centre of Innovation. “We are cementing on the international stage that Ontario and Canada’s technology, innovation and manufacturing capabilities are world-class and second to none. OVIN and OCI are proud to play an important role in this vision.”

More and more companies are looking to Ontario for their future, and the government is working with sector partners to build on recent successes and further strengthen innovation in Ontario. Through the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network, Ontario is investing $56.4 million over four years to accelerate the development of next generation electric, connected and autonomous vehicle and mobility technologies. Initiatives like this are an important part of the government’s plan to build a stronger Ontario and create new opportunities for workers and businesses across the province.

Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, issued the following statement after last Friday’s monthly employment data release by Statistics Canada. The data that showed employment in Ontario increased by 42,100 jobs in December 2022, with total employment up by 104,500 in 2022:

“Today’s job numbers show that our government’s plan to build a stronger Ontario is working. With many more good-paying jobs across multiple sectors, we have added over a half-million jobs since our government took office in June 2018 and are leading the nation in job creation (…).

In 2022, Ontario secured more than 150 new investment deals from a wide range of sectors including automotive, technology, manufacturing and life sciences. These investments will create thousands of new good-paying jobs for people across the province. Ontario is truly a leading destination for job creators of all sizes from savvy start-ups to large multi-nationals.

Among these key investments was a more than $2 billion investment by GM Canada to retool their Oshawa and CAMI facilities. With funding and support from our government, the CAMI facility in Ingersoll — Canada’s first all-electric vehicle manufacturing facility — opened last month, and the first BrightDrop Zevo 600s rolled off the assembly line marking a historic milestone in EV production. The cars of the future will be built from start to finish in Ontario, by Ontario workers.

In the coming year, our government will continue to build Ontario by driving innovation and creating meaningful opportunities for people, families and businesses. We’re strengthening our relationships with economic partners both domestically and internationally, including those we met with during our 2022 trade missions to the United Kingdom, Belgium, South Korea, Japan, Germany, Austria and India.”