Failure, by design: Ontario’s deepening hospital funding crisis

Andrew Longhurst
Canadian Centre of Policy Alternatives
May 11, 2026

Summary

The deepening Ontario hospital funding crisis is harming patients and communities. New analysis of Ontario’s 136 hospitals shows that the majority of hospitals had operating deficits over the last three years. In 2024-25, 55 per cent of hospitals had deficits.

Geographical analysis of hospital deficits by region show that hospitals in northern and western regions of the province were more likely to be in deficit in 2024-25. In the LHIN regions of Erie St. Clair and Mississauga Halton, all hospitals were in deficit, followed by Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (78 per cent), Waterloo Wellington (71 per cent), and the North East (63 per cent).

Costs in the hospital sector have been increasing by about six per cent per year due to population growth, aging, and inflation, according to the Ontario Hospital Association. However, the Ontario budget plans to increase total health care funding to by only 3.5 per cent in 2026-27 and 2.3 per cent in 2027-28.1 These increases are insufficient to address the health care needs of the population.