Is Bill 124 the reason Ontario can’t retain nurses?

The Ontario health ministry may have just admitted that Bill 124 is responsible for the province’s inability to retain nurses.

Internal documents intended to brief Sylvia Jones, health minister, note that there are “retention issues” in the health-care system, and that “concerns about wage disparity via Bill 124” were a contributing factor, along with wage disparities, reports Global News, which obtained Jones’ transition binder.

The documents were meant to inform an incoming cabinet minister of the inner workings of the ministry, decision-making frameworks and key issues the politician may be expected to handle.

“It’s now clear that (Doug) Ford and Jones have always known that Bill 124 was contributing to the staffing crisis in our hospitals,” says France Gélinas, Ontario NDP health critic, in the report. “They knew Bill 124 was causing overworked and underpaid health-care workers to leave their positions. They just didn’t care.”

The development comes after several groups criticized the Ontario government for its decision to appeal a court ruling on Bill 124.

The bill sought to "ensure that increases in public sector compensation reflect the fiscal situation" of Ontario and to protect the sustainability of public services. The Superior Court of Justice declared the bill "void and of no effect" in late 2022.

Staffing problems

The document also notes that Ontario’s health-care staffing problems worsened during the pandemic, says Global News.

“Health human resources (HHR) shortages predate the pandemic; however, shortages of nurses and personal support workers have become worse.”

However, the document said that nurses are not leaving the profession altogether: “Attrition is around five per cent per year and has not increased… Nurses are not leaving the profession but are leaving front-line positions.”

Statistics Canada said that between 2016 and 2021, the number of health care workers in Ontario grew by 86,200 – a 18.5-per-cent, according to the Global News report.

But 236,000 healthcare workers or 21 per cent of the overall health-care workforce, say they have put it in extra work regularly — and not all of it is being compensated: they averaged 8.2 hours per week of paid overtime and 5.8 hours per week of unpaid overtime, according to a previous report.

Overall, 75 per cent of nurses and 69 per cent of doctors say they intend on leaving the industry in the next 12 months, according to a recent survey.