Ontario Connecting More People to Faster Emergency Care
September 1, 2026
Investments in emergency care have reduced ambulance offload times by 68 per cent in the past year
NEWS
OTTAWA – The Ontario government is investing $68,166,441 in Ottawa to connect more people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of paramedics and ambulances in the community.
“Providing increased provincial funding for emergency care in Ottawa is an important investment in ensuring residents can access the care they need when they need it,” said George Darouze, MPP for Carleton. “We have seen positive progress in reducing ambulance offload times, and this additional support will help build on that progress, helping patients and residents experience more timely, seamless, and connected care when accessing emergency services.”
In Ottawa, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by 4 per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $65,294,757 this year. This increase in base funding helps ensure municipalities address increased costs so they can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care. This investment is part of the more than $1 billion in land ambulance funding Ontario is providing municipalities across the province this year, representing an average increase of 9 per cent from 2025.
In addition, to further reduce delays paramedics encounter when arriving at hospitals to transfer patients, Ontario is investing $2,871,684 in Ottawa through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to hire nurses and other eligible health professionals dedicated to offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments.
The program allows paramedics to get back out into the community faster and respond to their next 9-1-1 call sooner and has played a significant role in reducing ambulance offload times and increasing ambulance availability for 9-1-1 patients across the province. As a result of this investment and the collaboration between paramedics and hospital professionals, provincial ambulance offload time has been reduced by approximately 68 per cent since its peak in October 2022.
“Our government is making record investments to protect Ontario’s health-care system and connect people to the care they need, where and when they need it,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “With provincial ambulance offload times declining by nearly 70% since 2022, this shows that our plan is working.” Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government continues to take bold and decisive action to protect the province’s health-care system and ensure people and their families have access to high-quality care closer to home for generations to come.
QUICK FACTS
- The government’s additional investments in the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program over three years have helped municipalities cover more than 1.6 million dedicated hours to support offloading ambulance patients in the emergency department.
- Currently over 300 patient care models led by paramedic services across the province are now approved to provide appropriate and timely care options for eligible 9-1-1 patients in the community, instead of in the emergency department.
- To help increase the number of paramedics in the province, the expanded Ontario Learn and Stay Grant provides students studying in the first year of a paramedic program at select post-secondary institutions with funding for free tuition, books, compulsory fees and other direct educational costs. After graduating, students will be required to work in the same region they studied in, for a minimum of six months for every full year of study funded by the grant.
- The Ontario government has helped more students who want to become a paramedic in Ontario by adding more than 300 student spaces in paramedic programs at provincial colleges across Ontario.
QUOTES
Ottawa residents deserve to know that when they call 9-1-1 in an emergency, help will be there when they need it. This significant investment from the Ontario government will strengthen our local paramedic services, help reduce delays at our hospitals and ensure our paramedics can get back on the road faster to respond to the next emergency call. We are grateful to the Government of Ontario for this important investment and for its continued partnership with the City of Ottawa as we work together to deliver faster, more reliable emergency care for residents across our community.
- Mark Sutcliffe, Mayor, City of Ottawa
“The Ontario Government continues to support paramedic services in recognition of their contribution to patient care for Ontarians. The Ottawa Paramedic Service appreciates the ongoing Ministry of Health investment in our service delivery to the community. Our service improvements are attributable to the partnership between our municipal government and the province.”
- Pierre Poirier, Chief, Ottawa Paramedic Service
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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MEDIA CONTACT
Office of George Darouze, MPP – Carleton
1128 Mill St. Manotick, ON K4M 1A2
Tel.: 613-838-4425
george.darouze@pc.ola.org