Ontario nurses now have the lowest staffing ratio in Canada

The shortage of nurses in Ontario is getting worse, shows new data provided by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

The report said Ontario has 651 registered nurses (RNs) per 100,000 people. This represented a drop from 661 per 100K last year, said the new data.

This was part of a larger report on nursing in Canada in 2023 that showed that Ontario has the lowest ratio of nurses in Canada, said a news release from the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA).

"Ontario's registered nurse staffing ratio is dead last in the country – and we're falling further behind with every year that passes," said ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN.

Ariss said much of the blame lies with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose Conservatives voted against having minimum nurse staffing ratios for Ontario hospitals.

"Premier Ford's Conservative government is not only failing to act, they voted against implementing minimum nurse staffing ratios in hospitals earlier this year. Without improved nurse staffing, how can we expect to improve the quality and timeliness of the care our patients, residents and clients receive?" said Ariss in the news release.

The issue was one that Ontario NDP health critic and Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas raised in the legislature earlier this year.

Released Thursday, the CIHI report – Nursing in Canada 2023 – examined the supply, workforce and demographic trends of the nursing workforce across Canada, said the ONA release. It reveals that the Ontario RNs per capita is seven per cent lower than one decade ago.

Ariss said the Ford government's underspending is draining the Ontario health system.

"Premier Ford should be fully funding our public health-care system to improve nurse staffing and patient care,” she said. “Instead, his government is draining it, underspending billions in the last fiscal year, while handing those public health care dollars to private companies intent on stripping it for parts."

In June, the issue of staff shortages was addressed at the annual general meeting of Health Sciences North by hospital CEO David McNeil. 

McNeil said there were significant gaps and challenges in health human resources at HSN, but added gradual improvements were also happening.

"HSN recruited a total of 977 new employees during the last fiscal year while 512 left the organization. This means that 1.9 new employees (were hired) for every employee who left. This includes 230 registered nurses, registered practical nurses and nurse practitioners. These are just some of the important accomplishments that we celebrated this year, thanks to the hard work of our team," McNeil said at the meeting. 

"While we have made strides in hiring, our turnover rate is at 11.1 per cent. It's lower than last year and moving in the right direction, but we want to see this between five and eight per cent." 

In the ONA news release, Ariss said the nurses shortage in Ontario is a crisis that needs immediate attention.

"Ontario needs more than 25,000 RNs just to catch up to the national average. Yet for every nurse that joins the workforce we hear of many more who are leaving or planning to leave because they are struggling to provide the care patients need – only making matters worse," said Ariss. 

"Premier Ford is failing Ontarians,” she added.

ONA is the union representing more than 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry, said the release.

Len Gillis covers health care and mining for Sudbury.com.