Ontario boosts community health: primary care funding and elder‑care pilot

The Ontario government announced a $2.835 million investment to attach more than 7,000 residents of Dufferin‑Caledon to family doctors or primary‑care teams as part of its Primary Care Action Plan, which aims to provide a publicly funded primary‑care provider for every Ontarian by 2029. Deputy Premier and Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the funding will “connect more than 7,000 residents to a family doctor or primary‑care team, ensuring people can access the care they need closer to home.”

In a separate initiative, the privately funded “Nursing Home Without Walls” pilot launched at Algoma Manor, Fairview Mennonite Home and Perley Health with $420,000 from the Waltons Trust and Healthcare Excellence Canada. The two‑year project, not run by the provincial government, seeks to keep older adults living independently by offering community‑based services such as social activities, exercise, wound care and foot‑care in nursing‑home settings. Lisa Levin, CEO of Advantage Ontario, said there are “huge gaps in support for older adults in Ontario and across Canada.” The pilot runs until 2028 and could inform future provincial approaches to long‑term‑care wait‑lists.