Residents in Port Colborne will gather to voice their opposition to the privatization of public hospitals as part of a broader provincial movement advocating for the preservation of public healthcare. The Ontario Health Coalition is critical of the provincial government’s current policy, citing a report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives that found Ontario hospitals spent $9.2 billion on for-profit staffing agencies between 2013 and 2023. Advocates argue these funds should be directed toward hiring permanent local healthcare workers instead, noting that using private agencies can cost up to three times more than employing in-house staff.
Concerns over healthcare access are particularly pressing in Port Colborne, as the local urgent care centre is slated for permanent closure in 2028. That timeline aligns with the planned opening of the new South Niagara Hospital in Niagara Falls, which is managed by Niagara Health. While city leadership has been exploring ways to maintain local services, advocates fear that broader provincial moves toward privatization will further strain the system.
Beyond staffing concerns, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and other organizers are highlighting the provincial government’s recent investment of nearly $300 million into 61 new private surgical and diagnostic clinics. The Ontario Health Coalition warns that this shift toward private, for-profit care could redirect 1.2 million patients away from the public system. This upcoming effort follows a 2023 province-wide referendum conducted by the coalition, in which more than 386,000 participants voted, with 98 percent expressing opposition to the privatization of the healthcare sector.
