More than 34,000 patients in Grey-Bruce are feeling the effects of a health care strike that has now stretched into its fourth week, as workers at the Owen Sound Family Health Team and Community Living Hanover remain on the picket line.
The strike began on May 25, 2026, when members of OPSEU Local 276 at the Owen Sound Family Health Team walked off the job. Nurses, dietitians, psychotherapists, pharmacists, occupational therapists, and medical administrative staff are among those on strike. Just two days earlier, on May 23, developmental services workers at Community Living Hanover, represented by OPSEU Local 235, also began striking. They are picketing daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the organization’s main office at 583 10th Street in Hanover.
The job action is part of a province-wide campaign by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union called ‘Worth Fighting For,’ involving nearly two dozen community organizations and about 4,000 workers across Ontario. At the heart of the dispute are demands for retroactive pay for wages that were held down by Bill 124. That provincial law, which capped public sector wage increases at one percent a year from 2019 to 2022, was ruled unconstitutional by the Ontario Superior Court in November 2022 — a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal in February 2024 — and repealed by the government later that same month. Workers say they are still waiting for fair compensation, while also calling for better funding for community health and social services to fix ongoing staffing shortages.
For residents of Owen Sound and the surrounding area, the strike means disruptions to primary care. The Owen Sound Family Health Team’s Interprofessional Primary Care Teams normally serve thousands of patients. As of June 15, no settlement had been reached. Local family doctor Bruce Stanners has written a letter directly to Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones, asking her to step in and restore care to an acceptable level. The region has the largest proportion of older residents in the province, making access to these services especially critical.
Community Living Hanover provides support for people with intellectual disabilities, and the strike there has left clients and their families scrambling for help. The union says that a budget shortfall of $1.5 billion at the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services is part of the problem, with ministry spending actually set to decline over the next few years. Residents who rely on either organization are encouraged to reach out to the providers directly to find out about alternative arrangements during the strike.
