Ontario Liberals Renew Call for $1 Billion from Contingency Fund to Boost Urgent Healthcare Needs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12 February 2026
TORONTO, ON – Today, Dr. Adil Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East and Ontario Liberal Critic for Primary Care, Urgent Care, and Public Health, and Lee Fairclough, MPP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, Ontario Liberal Critic for Hospitals, Mental Health, Addictions, and Homelessness, issued the following statement regarding the latest Economic and Budget Outlook by the Financial Accountability Office:
Ontario’s most recent economic report card, released Wednesday by the province’s budgetary watchdog, paints a bleak picture of our future under Doug Ford’s fiscal mismanagement.
The FAO found that healthcare will have a funding shortfall of $10.7 billion in 2027-2028 – demanding the question of how Doug Ford could spend so much and still have so little to show. The report makes evidently clear that healthcare is facing an emergency, and hospitals are now maxing out bank loans to stay afloat.
Ontario has the second lowest healthcare spending per person in Canada. The solution is precisely what we called for months ago: immediately invest $1 billion to stabilize hospitals, protect patient care, and make sure our healthcare system is there when people need it most.
The Premier and Minister of Finance need to deliver a budget by March 31. If this emergency cash injection is not accounted for in that budget, this government will have failed every patient in Ontario relying on them. No matter where you live, your community will be one step closer to longer ER wait times, more ER closures, fewer staffed beds, delayed surgeries and diagnostics, and specialized program cuts.
Further inaction is neglect of our most precious public resource – our healthcare system.”