I attended an Ontario Health Coalition event in Cornwall yesterday, and once again I was confronted with the reality and dangers of privatization in our health-care system. The presentations showed how Ontario is being steered toward the same kind of privatized model that has already reshaped healthcare in England — quietly, deliberately, and without honesty.
The experts – Dr. Allyson Pollock, a leading international researcher on health-system reform, Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition, and Michael Hurley, longtime advocate for public healthcare and former president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions – laid out decades of evidence. Their message was clear. What happened in England’s National Health Service is happening here. Privatization in Ontario is not a theory anymore. It is already well underway.
I want to explain this as clearly as possible because Ontarians deserve to know what is happening, why it’s happening, and what it will mean for every one of us.
Why the Government Is Doing This
There is no substantial evidence anywhere to support the claim that privatizing a universal healthcare system improves care, reduces costs, or shortens wait times for everyone. In fact, national and international research shows the opposite.
So why is Ford’s government pushing this anyway?
First, in my opinion, it revolves around ideology. This government believes the free market is superior to public systems. But it is an article of faith, not based on fact. Reports, such as Andrew Longhurst’s, show that privatization raises costs, reduces quality of care, and drains staff from hospitals. The evidence is overwhelming, and the government ignores it because it contradicts what they want to believe.
Second, we see a circle of private companies, investors, and politically aligned businesses that stand to gain. These are the groups building new clinics in Ontario. They benefit when more public money flows into private hands. And they reward politicians with appointments, contracts, speaking roles, and board positions after public life. This is how privatization has worked elsewhere.
Third, the crisis itself was manufactured to make the concept of privatization palatable. Public hospitals have been underfunded and understaffed for years. Operating rooms sit unused because they are not funded to run. When wait times grow, the government conveniently points to the [starved] public system and claims it is failing. Then they award contracts to the private sector as the solution. But the crisis is not a natural disaster. It is the result of deliberate political decisions.
This is why I’m angry. This government is not acting for the public good. It is acting in the name of an ideology that has been proven wrong and for private interests that seek to profit from a weaker public system.
What the Canada Health Act Protects — And Why It Isn’t Enough
The Canada Health Act (CHA) protects Canadians from user fees and extra-billing for medically necessary care. Cataract surgery, hip replacements, knee replacements, MRIs, CT scans, and many diagnostic tests fall under that protection. However, the Act was written when care occurred almost entirely within public hospitals.
Today, Ontario is shifting procedures into private clinics that bill OHIP and charge OHIP higher fees than hospitals for the same procedures. These clinics use loopholes the CHA never anticipated. Cataract clinics are only the beginning, but they are a powerful example.
Patients are often told they need premium lenses to access surgery, even when that is false. They are quoted between $2,000 and $12,000 per eye for diagnostic tests and add-ons that should never be a barrier to care. They are told hospital waits are long, when the provincial wait-time database shows the opposite.
The CHA prohibits charging people in order to access public surgery. But Ontario’s enforcement is weak, reactive, and slow. Clinics know this. The government does not strengthen enforcement because weak enforcement supports the privatization plan.
Why Privatization Will Make Wait Times Worse
Privatization is being sold as the answer to wait times. But Ontario already had some of the best wait times in Canada before this shift began.
The real problem is not space or equipment – it is staff. A third of hospital operating rooms across Ontario sit unused for part of the day because they are not funded or staffed. Private clinics do not create new surgeons or nurses. They pull them out of the hospital system.
Here is what actually happens when privatization expands:
• Clinics take the easiest cases.
• Hospitals are left with patients with more complex health profiles who require more time and resources.
• Waits for complex patients grow longer.
• Hospitals lose staff to private clinics.
• Costs rise because private clinics bill OHIP at higher rates.
Most people assume private means paying out of pocket or through private insurance. But in Ontario’s model, most private surgeries are billed directly to OHIP. And private services cost OHIP more than the same procedure done in a public hospital.
The shocking reality in Ontario is that public tax dollars are now being used to fund private profit, with no improvement in wait times or services.
Evidence from England shows that for every one percent increase in outsourcing, overall wait times rose by two percent. Scotland, which kept services in public hospitals, saw wait times fall without creating a two-tier system.
Ontario is copying England’s approach almost step by step.
What Ontarians Across the Province Are Experiencing
In Ottawa, private MRI clinics promote ‘faster access’ while public hospitals remain understaffed, even though opening more public MRI hours would reduce waits for everyone.
In cities across Ontario, patients are told to pay thousands for cataract upgrades they do not need. Others are waiting months for diagnostics like PET scans and do not know where to turn for help.
Families trying to navigate care face inconsistent information, pressure to pay, and growing confusion.
These stories are early signs of a system drifting toward two-tier access — the same pattern seen in England before the system split in two.
Conclusion
Ontario is at a critical moment. If we continue down this path, we will lose the public health system generations fought to build. But it is not too late to change course.
We have the infrastructure. We have the staff. We have the evidence. What we lack right now is a government willing to put people before ideology.
As Ontarians, we can either let this privatization experiment continue—or we can insist that health care remains a public good, not a profit stream.
Key Questions Ontarians Should Be Asking Themselves
With all the “busyness” of daily life, it’s way too easy to walk away from the situation and trust that things will be dealt with appropriately. If you can’t see the erosion of our system here are some questions to think about.
- Is my care better today than before privatization started?
- If privatization is supposed to shorten wait times, why are complex cases waiting longer?
- Why are clinics charging thousands for procedures that are covered under OHIP?
- Why is staffing worse in hospitals when private clinics are expanding?
- Who benefits financially from this shift? If it’s not me or my family—then who?
- Why are operating rooms sitting unused while surgeries are outsourced?
- Why aren’t we investing in proven solutions like a centralized waitlist and extended OR hours?
- Why is the government hiding private clinic contracts and payment details?
- If the evidence shows privatization worsens outcomes, why pursue it?
- Since when did we decide that health care should be a business opportunity instead of a public right?
What Ontarians Can Do Right Now
- Learn your rights under the Canada Health Act—it protects you more than clinics want you to know.
- Report unlawful extra billing to the Ministry of Health and the Ontario Health Coalition.
- Support organizations fighting to protect public health care.
- Ask your MPP why operating rooms in public hospitals sit unused while surgeries are outsourced.
- Demand transparency about private clinic payments and contracts.
- Speak up—because silence is exactly what allows privatization to spread.
About The Author
