The Canadian Association of Physician Assistants welcomes the Government of Ontario’s recent investment of an additional 30 million dollars to expand the province’s primary care workforce. This funding reinforces the importance of team based care and strengthens access to health services for Ontarians.
This investment is part of Ontario’s broader 2.1 billion dollar Primary Care Action Plan, a strategic effort designed to ensure that every person in Ontario is connected to comprehensive primary care by 2029.
What the Investment Means
The new funding will support nearly 1,800 new health care workers through expanded education and upskilling programs. Key priorities include:
- Upskilling more than 1,400 registered nurses with training tailored to primary care settings, covering chronic disease management, cancer screening, immunizations, maternal and child care, and more.
- Creating 170 new primary care nurse practitioner education seats across several Ontario universities, increasing the pipeline of highly qualified primary care providers.
- Adding up to 150 physician assistant education seats, providing opportunities for future physician assistants to enter the workforce with the tools and training needed to make an impact in team based primary care settings.
Why Physician Assistants Matter in Primary Care
Physician assistants are a vital part of interprofessional primary care teams. Working under physician supervision and in collaboration with nurse practitioners and other health professionals, PAs help improve access to care, reduce wait times, and deliver patient centered services across a wide range of clinical needs.
Expanding PA education seats is a meaningful step toward addressing workforce shortages and strengthening the capacity of Ontario’s health system. Supporting PA training aligns with CAPA’s long standing vision of optimizing team based care, where each professional practices to their full scope and contributes to timely, high quality care.
A Shared Goal: Access for All Ontarians
Ontario’s Primary Care Action Plan has already made progress in connecting hundreds of thousands of residents to primary care providers across the province. This latest investment builds on that momentum and focuses not only on workforce growth, but also on quality, sustainability, and long term system improvement.
For CAPA, this announcement reflects the growing recognition of physician assistants as an essential solution to Canada’s primary care challenges. We look forward to continued collaboration with provincial partners to ensure PAs are fully integrated, properly supported, and positioned to serve patients across Ontario.