Hundreds of health-care jobs cut in Ontario, union says, amid concerns over nurse shortages

A nurse tends to a patient in the intensive care unit at the Bluewater Health Hospital in Sarnia, Ont., on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.

TORONTO - Canada’s largest research and teaching hospital network, based in Toronto, has cut another 28 registered nursing positions, most of them in a specialty kidney care unit — while it continues to contend with patient overload, burnout and an increase in violence and abuse, according to the nurses’ union.

“It results in the potential for life-threatening and life-altering complications for any patient,” said Erin Ariss, the president of the Ontario Nurses Association (ONA), in an interview with CTV News Sunday.

“It’s absurd and quite frankly shocking that when we have the lowest number of registered nurses (RNs) per population in the country, that you would be eliminating these positions further.”

Ariss says most of the front-line roles slashed by the University Health Network (UHN) were in the hemodialysis unit, where patients with acute kidney injury are treated.

UHN told CTV News in an email that “advances in kidney disease treatment” have resulted in it caring for 30 to 40 fewer in-centre dialysis patients than in previous years.

“We are adjusting our staffing model to reflect these realities, with RPNs (registered practical nurses) taking on a broader care role and our registered nurses focused on our most complex patients and transitioning into roles across UHN where their expertise will have the greatest impact,” said UHN Chief Nursing Executive Pam Hubley.

Ariss told CTV News that her understanding of the situation is that UHN doesn’t have the money to employ more RNs.

The Ontario nurses’ union said last week that there have been 700 front-line nurse and health-care worker positions cut since January 2025.

“This government is doing nothing to improve the situation,” said Ariss. “Instead, they’re trying to balance their books on the backs of registered nurses (RNs) in this province.”

Meanwhile, the Ontario Health Minister’s office refutes the claim that there were hundreds of positions cut since early last year.

“To be clear, there is no single source or verified basis for the “700 jobs” claim, and the ONA and those amplifying it are being disingenuous by failing to provide or substantiate how this figure was calculated,” said the Health Minister’s spokesperson Ema Popovic in an email to CTV News Monday morning.

“To continue growing and supporting our nursing workforce, we have reduced barriers for internationally and interprovincially educated nurses, removed financial barriers for those looking to upskill, and expanded the Learn and Stay Grant to cover tuition, books and other costs for eligible students.”

B.C., Nova Scotia heading ‘in the right direction’

The scathing criticism from ONA comes as other provinces’ nursing unions say their provincial governments have improved working conditions for their staff -- although there are still some gaps to fill.

In Nova Scotia, the nurses’ union says the province committed to implementing a program about five years ago that guarantees a nursing job in Nova Scotia to all graduates from provincial nursing programs — and has resulted in the province heading ‘in the right direction.’

“It’s working, our new grads know that when they graduate, they will have a full-time job in the province where they got their education,“ said Janet Hazelton in a Zoom interview with CTV News Sunday.

“We have less vacancies now than we had in 2021, which is good --- because our new grads are not getting anxious about where they’re going to be because they have student loans, they have debt --and so they’re not looking to go elsewhere, they know that there will be a job in Nova Scotia. ”

Nova Scotia also negotiated minimum nurse-to-patient ratios — which allow nurses to have only a certain number of patients under their care at any given time, a measure British Columbia has also implemented.

“When that standard is upheld, patients actually get better care, they get safer care. There is less opportunity for negative health outcomes, including mortality rates,” said Adriane Gear, the president of the B.C. Nurses’ Union in an interview with CTV News Sunday.

“Nurses in Ontario are graduating from nursing in university and they are unable to get jobs, which is shocking,” said Ariss. “Ontario is also one of the only provinces that is not committed to nurse-to-patient ratios.

“Ontario is going to further hemorrhage nurses to other provinces because of their lack of commitment to nursing and their lack of commitment to patients.”

One thing both provinces say they are still contending with is a growing amount of violence against nurses.

“One nurse goes off every 16 hours on a WorkSafeBC claim due to violence,” said Gear.

“And that doesn’t account for all the assaults and aggression and violence that nurses experience that may not necessitate a time loss claim,” said Gear, who believes an increase in severe mental health issues may be contributing to the growing violence against nurses.

While Nova Scotia has implemented metal detectors at hospitals that use artificial intelligence.

“Oftentimes, patients will have brought in knives and other things with them when they’re admitted to hospital or family members have them,” said Hazelton. “So now they’ll be asked to remove them. They won’t be permitted in our buildings with them -- it’s reassuring.”