Updates on PLG Priorities; RNPGA Pregnancy/Parental Leave Benefits; Billing Session Recordings

Dear SGFP Members,

As summer comes into full swing, I want to provide promised updates on the OMA’s Priority and Leadership Group (PLG) process and highlight recent changes to pregnancy and parental leave benefits for RNPGA physicians.

OMA PLG Priorities

A few weeks ago, we shared that SGFP leaders attended the OMA’s annual Priority and Leadership Group (PLG) meeting in person to strongly advocate for the needs of family physicians. The OMA grants SGFP 20 delegate seats with voting rights, and your Board and operational team members used those seats to represent family physicians at the table, shaping conversations and challenging senior leadership around priorities that matter to our Section.

This year, OMA members submitted 108 ideas for consideration. Six were shortlisted for prioritization, and four of those six came from SGFP leaders, a strong reflection of the thought leadership within our Section, the enormous effort our teams invested in this work, and the extent to which family physicians are shaping the OMA’s work.

After a dynamic weekend of debate, two ideas were selected as OMA priorities for 2026, and SGFP is pleased that both support family medicine:

• A unified provincial lab and imaging repository and delivery mechanism, originally submitted by SGFP. This priority calls for transforming OLIS and the provincial imaging repository into a single, authoritative channel for diagnostic results. For family physicians, this would mean a complete, real‑time record within our workflows, reducing administrative burden and cognitive load, and improving continuity of care.
• A priority on team‑based care, originally submitted to support community specialists but now expanded to include family medicine. SGFP welcomes this broader framing, which recognizes the importance of team‑based models across the system, including family medicine.

RNPGA Pregnancy and Parental Leave Benefits Improvements

The Ministry of Health recently released an update to pregnancy and parental leave benefits for physicians practicing under the RNPGA. Although the announcement was made quietly and without broad communication, the changes are meaningful and important for affected physicians.

Eligible RNPGA physicians are now entitled to:

• 22 consecutive weeks of Pregnancy/Parental Leave for a physician who is pregnant and gives birth to a child
• 17 consecutive weeks of Parental Leave for any other RNPGA physician who:
  
  • is the parent of a child (birth fathers, non‑birth mothers), or
  • adopts a child, including parents expecting a child via surrogacy

These improvements bring RNPGA physicians into closer alignment with the leave benefits available in other PEM models, offering important support for those balancing family responsibilities with practice demands. 

Billing Session Recordings Available

Six of the “Let’s Talk Billing” session recordings from the past several months are available on the SGFP website, and we encourage you to watch them if you have a moment.

Before closing, I also want to welcome Dr. Andrew Park as he steps into his role as interim CEO of the OMA. We look forward to working with him and continuing to strengthen the voice of family medicine within the Association.

Warm Regards,

Dr. Dave Barber, Chair, SGFP

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