In our ongoing efforts to prioritize the well-being of Ontarians, I am excited to share the latest initiatives aimed at improving healthcare and transportation in our province. We are dedicated to enhancing medical services, making public transit more affordable, and improving the access to long-term care.
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Our government is working hard to deliver on items that matter to Ontarians. In this edition of the Weekly Update, you can find the latest news on what the Province is doing to:
- Save Transit Riders $1,600 per year
- Increase Access to Primary Care
- Expand our Long-Term Care Workforce
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Ontario Launching “One Fare” to Save Transit Riders $1,600
Beginning February 26, 2024, riders will pay only once as they transfer for free between the TTC and participating transit agencies in the Greater Toronto Area, including GO Transit. One Fare will eliminate double fares and put $1,600 back into the pockets of transit riders. Alongside the hundreds of dollars we’re saving for drivers by cutting the gas tax, scrapping road tolls and eliminating the licence plate sticker fee, we’re providing commuters with real, tangible relief.
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Fully funded by the Ontario government, One Fare will lead to over eight million new rides every year and will make cross-boundary travel more affordable and convenient for students, seniors and other commuters transferring between GO Transit, TTC, Brampton Transit, Durham Region Transit, MiWay and York Region Transit. At a time when many families feel like they’re struggling to get ahead, our government is making public transit simpler, more convenient and more affordable. We will continue to make historic investments in public transit and put money back in commuters’ pockets, where it belongs.
One Fare builds on improvements the government made in 2022 to eliminate fares between GO Transit and several transit agencies in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The government will continue to work with municipal partners to identify opportunities to make transit more seamless for riders by harmonizing discounted fares and other measures.
Over the next decade, Ontario is investing $70.5 billion to transform public transit in the province, including the largest subway expansion in Canadian history with the Ontario Line, the Scarborough Subway Extension, the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension and the Yonge North Subway Extension. By 2031, the province will introduce two-way, all-day GO train service, every 15 minutes in key corridors in the Greater Golden Horseshoe to connect more people to transit, jobs and housing for generations to come.
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Ontario Connecting Over 300,000 People to Primary Care Teams
The Ontario government is investing $110 million to connect up to 328,000 people to primary care teams, bringing the province one step closer to connecting everyone in Ontario to primary care. Ontario currently leads the country with 90 per cent of people connected to a regular health care provider.
As a next step to close the gap for the 1.3 million people not connected to primary care, the government is making a record investment of $90 million to add over 400 new primary care providers as part of 78 new and expanded interprofessional primary care teams. In addition to other historic investments to expand medical school spots and efforts to break down barriers so highly-skilled internationally-trained doctors can care for people in Ontario, Ministry of Health modelling shows that these initiatives will help connect up to 98 per cent of people in Ontario to primary care in the next several years.
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Interprofessional primary care teams connect people to a range of health professionals that work together under one roof, including doctors, nurse practitioners, registered and practical nurses, physiotherapists, social workers and dietitians, among others. Timely access to primary care helps people stay healthier for longer with faster diagnosis and treatment, as well as more consistent support managing their day-to-day health while relieving pressures on emergency departments and walk-in clinics.
Since the launch of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care one year ago, the government has been making steady progress to ensure the health care system has become better equipped to respond to the needs of patients and provide them with the right care in the right place, faster access to services and access to an expanded health care workforce.
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Ontario Training Thousands of New Long-Term Care Staff
The Ontario government is investing more than $100 million in two programs that will train more than 32,000 new personal support workers (PSWs) and nurses in long-term care over the next three years. The investments are part of the government’s Your Health plan to recruit and retain tens of thousands of long-term care staff over the coming years.
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Ontario is further investing $94.5 million over three years to extend the Preceptor Resource and Education Program for Long-Term Care (PREP LTC). Since its launch in 2021, the program has already helped 500 long-term care homes provide clinical placements for over 17,000 nursing and personal support worker students. With the new investment, the program now aims to train more than 3,000 new preceptors and support 31,000 new clinical placements by 2027.
Clinical placements are key to providing nursing and personal support worker students with hands-on experience on-site in long-term care homes under the supervision of preceptors — experienced staff who are trained for this role. Positive clinical placement experiences drive recruitment, as students often take jobs in the homes where they complete their placements. Meanwhile, becoming a preceptor gives existing long-term care staff the opportunity for career development and growth.
Ontario is also investing nearly $11 million over three years to expand Living Classrooms, a program that helps students train to become PSWs on-site in local long-term care homes. With this investment, the program will double the number of living classrooms from 20 to 40, which will support the training of up to 1,300 new personal support workers by 2026.
Unlike traditional PSW training programs, where students start with a classroom education and then move on to clinical placements, living classrooms integrate education into a long-term care home. Students alternate between in-class learning — delivered in the home or nearby — and applying what they learn as they work with residents within the home. The program is especially beneficial to rural, remote and northern regions, as homes can grow their own staff and students can train without having to leave their communities.
The government is fixing long-term care to ensure Ontario’s seniors get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve. The plan is built on four pillars: staffing and care; quality and enforcement; building modern, safe and comfortable homes; and connecting seniors with faster, more convenient access to the services they need.
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My constituency office is open Monday to Friday from 10AM to 4PM.
If you have any questions or concerns we’re readily available to assist you.
You can also reach us by phone at (416) 781-2395
or by email at robin.martin@pc.ola.org.
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Warmest Wishes,
 Robin Martin, MPP
Eglinton-Lawrence
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