Ontario Budget 2024: Family Doctors Left Behind

Ontario’s 2024 provincial budget was released last week, and there was once again nothing in it to directly support family doctors.  

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We choose to go into family medicine to have a small load of patients that we provide care to over their lives and feel embedded in a community – but that’s not the reality we get going into family medicine now. It’s not just about being a family doctor anymore - on top of an overwhelming patient load, we’re also small business owners trying to keep the lights on in an inflationary environment. We’re also administrators dealing with upwards of 19 hours of paperwork a week. And the business model we work under is failing, with insufficient compensation from the government that doesn’t come close to the rate of inflation.  

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It’s clear that the government is completely misunderstanding the crisis we’re experiencing in family medicine. We need the government to step in and say “We’ve got you” to family doctors – to create stabilization in an untenable environment to encourage family doctors to stay in their practice.

Last week, we sent out a media release voicing our thoughts about the Ontario budget. Please review the attached media coverage related to this release, as well as the coverage we received in response to our reaction to the first round of CaRMS resident matching.

We will continue to advocate that family doctors need to be at the decision-making table, and the government needs to listen. Please reach out if you have questions about SGFP advocacy or would like to review our key messages if you are approached with any media inquiries. 

Warm regards,

David Barber

Chair, Section on General and Family Practice

In The News

From March 13–April 2, 2024, Dr. David Barber and SGFP were mentioned in the media a total of 219 times. View the SGFP Media Coverage. 

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Tariff Talk for Family Doctors from Dr. Budhoo

The OMA & MOH continue with negotiations and have entered mediation. If mediation does not result in a physician compensation agreement, Arbitration for Year 1 of the next PSA is scheduled to start in May 2024. 

The SGFP is acutely aware of the daily struggles we all face as family doctors. In preparation for arbitration (if this occurs), one of our many priorities is providing the OMA MOH NFT & Arbitrator with current data on the crisis we are living daily, alongside possible solutions.

Since data drives decisions, we ask that you complete the attached survey at your earliest convenience.