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Ontario Budget 2025: Momentum to Strengthen Primary Care
The Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP) welcomes the 2025 Ontario Budget and recent government announcements as meaningful steps to improve access to family doctors and strengthen the province’s healthcare system.
With over $2.1 billion in new investments and the launch of a Primary Care Action Plan, the government is taking action to address the growing number of Ontarians without access to primary care. The commitments made to date reflect many of the recommendations long championed by the Ontario College of Family Physicians and our members— including a stronger focus on team-based care and the expansion of training opportunities in community-based teaching clinics.
“This is a pivotal moment for family medicine and primary care in Ontario,” said Dr. Jobin Varughese, President of the OCFP. “We’re pleased to see the government investing in solutions that family doctors know will make a difference. These kinds of structural investments will set the stage for lasting improvements in access, quality, and continuity of care. The OCFP stands ready to partner with government to ensure future investments support all family physicians to focus on what they most want to do – care for patients.”
To ensure continued momentum toward connecting all Ontarians with a family physician and a primary care team, the OCFP commits to working with the Ministry of Health and the Primary Care Action Team to ensure that all family physicians, regardless of how they practice, have the opportunity to access the team-based resources that will help them to address the complex health needs of their patients.
We also encourage the government to continue to prioritize addressing the administrative burden currently taking up 19 hours per week of a family physician’s time through the rollout of a centralized referral system and AI scribes, accessible to all family physicians. The implementation of technology will support family physicians to spend more time with patients and connect them to diagnostics and specialist care faster.
“Investments that support family physicians to thrive within a strong primary care foundation will lead to a healthier Ontario and less pressure on other parts of our health system,” said Deepy Sur, CEO, Ontario College of Family Physicians. “The OCFP looks forward to continued collaboration with government and system partners to implement the Primary Care Action Plan — and to make the shared vision of access to family physicians and teams a reality for all Ontarians.”