The $2.2 Billion Crunch: Why Your Local Hospital Is Starved for Cash

The funds hospitals use to pay day-to-day bills have plummeted by $2.2 billion since 2020, says new report

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ontario Council of Hospital Unions
August 14, 2026

OTTAWA – Ontario’s hospital crisis has hit a boiling point, says new report released today by CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE). Citing the latest data, Pushed over the brink: the escalating assault on Ontario’s hospitals highlights the dire conditions that hospitals are facing in the wake of Ford’s austerity agenda.

In the past six years Ontario hospitals have seen a massive drop in their working capital, the funds available to cover daily expenses, including payroll and medical supplies. This figure has plummeted from $2 billion in 2020, to negative $280 million at the end of last year. Ottawa’s working capital is negative $135 million. As a result, many hospitals have been forced to borrow cash to make ends meet.

According to the report, deliberate underfunding, understaffing and the further privatization of hospital services has led to emergency room closures, higher wait-times and reduced quality of care across the province.