To the nurses like Tara: Thank you. Thank you for your commitment. Thank you for being there when the people of Ontario needed you, through the pandemic.

It’s so important that we acknowledge the excellent work that nurses have done, which is, frankly, one of the reasons why we brought forward the $5,000 nurse retention. The second Toronto course is coming forward in the weeks ahead, in the first couple of weeks in September.

We’re also expanding the supply and opportunities for people who wish to train as nurses in the province of Ontario, because we understand that there are so many opportunities with additional long-term-care beds being built, with 50 new hospital expansions in the works. We need more health human resources, and it is why we’ve invested $35 million to increase enrolment in nursing education programs in colleges and universities. The new spaces will introduce over 1,100 practical nurses and 870 registered nurses into Ontario’s health care system.

We will continue to work with the College of Nurses of Ontario. We will continue to work to make sure that internationally educated health care workers who want to practise in the province of Ontario get their licence quickly through those colleges. And that work can be ongoing, because I think you and I can both agree that we want more people working in our health care system in Ontario.

Nurses and health care staff have been underpaid and undervalued by the Conservative government. Tara is a local community nurse in Sudbury with three decades of experience. You simply can’t replicate the experience and knowledge of lifelong nurses like Tara. She brings this invaluable experience to her workplace, to her patients and to her colleagues, but Tara is quitting, and so are many other senior nurses she knows. I asked Tara why, and she said, “Our out-of-pocket expenses always increase, but our mileage and wages” don’t “keep pace.”

Right now in Sudbury, there are more than 150 job postings for nurses. With that many vacancies, clearly the Premier’s plan to retain nurses is not working.

To the Premier: When will the Premier admit that lifelong nurses like Tara are leaving the profession because they have not been sufficiently supported and valued by this government?

Nurses and health care staff have been underpaid and undervalued by the Conservative government.

Jan works in a local long-term-care home and is concerned about the recent increase in staffing agency contract nurses. Jan told me that contract nurses can make up to $150 an hour more than she does. As a result, nursing home budgets are being obliterated by these costs, and this ends up forcing even more cuts to front-line staff. What’s more, most of these temp agencies require their nurses to sign a contract that prevents them from being hired as full-time workers in the agencies where they provide these services.

To the Premier: With little to no oversight, staffing agencies are slowly draining the nursing pool and money intended for patient care. What is the Premier doing to stop these agencies from taking advantage and profiteering from the COVID pandemic and our current health care crisis?

Thank you to the member for the question.

As we work to create a strong health care system, we are relying on strong health human resources as well. That’s why we are taking strong measures, specifically in my ministry, to ensure that we are training more doctors and nurses.

For example, the Learn and Stay program will pay for all educational components of a nurse’s education—in order to qualify, and to commit to two years in an underserved area. This will be starting in 2023. This will allow up to 3,000 nurses as part of this program, so it’s a great opportunity for young people to serve in some of those underserved, rural, northern areas.

As well, we’ve now allowed colleges across Ontario to offer stand-alone programs in nursing. Fourteen colleges now offer this program in areas like my own—in Georgian College, Lambton College, Loyalist—great opportunities for young people to be entering into rewarding careers, where we know we need more nurses.

As I mentioned, we have so many opportunities for young people to join the nursing profession. We are offering opportunities for students as well as opportunities for bridging in some of the work that I’ve been doing with the Minister of Long-Term Care, where we’ve invested over $100 million to support students who are moving from being a PSW to a registered practical nurse to a registered nurse, all while working in these careers while we need them in the workforce.

We’re offering opportunities for young people in their own communities—as I mentioned, the opportunity for students to learn in a college and to complete their four-year degree there, close to home. These are opportunities—I know in my own area, where students were at one time leaving to go to a university to finish their two-year degree, usually in a city, and not coming back to our rural communities. So there are great opportunities for colleges across Ontario to accept students, to be able to offer the nursing degree programs.

Nursing shortages continue to plague Ottawa hospitals. The Queensway Carleton Hospital in my riding of Ottawa West–Nepean has had to close ICU beds due to lack of nurses.

Nurses without specialized experience are being assigned to work serious cases in the ICU or trauma cases in the ER. In at least one case, a nurse with only a few months’ experience was put in charge of an entire unit overnight, by herself. Speaker, this is unsustainable and risky. Why is the Premier refusing to repeal Bill 124 and address nursing shortages?

Recently, I met with the nurses of ONA Local 84 who work at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. They are burnt-out and frequently left in tears over assignments that they do not feel qualified to take on.

There are nurses who are quitting and working minimum wage jobs in retail because at least it doesn’t have the stress of nursing.

Will the Premier finally listen to nurses, address working conditions, and repeal Bill 124?