Investments in emergency care have reduced ambulance offload times by 68 per cent
DUFFERIN COUNTY— The Ontario government is investing $5,744,303 in the County of Dufferin to connect more people to emergency care faster and increase the availability of paramedics and ambulances in the community.
In Dufferin County, Ontario is increasing land ambulance funding by 5 per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $5,417,263 this year. This increase in base funding helps ensure municipalities address increased costs so they can continue to deliver high-quality emergency care. This investment is part of the more than $1 billion in land ambulance funding Ontario is providing municipalities across the province this year, representing an average increase of 9 per cent from 2025.
“This funding will enable Dufferin County to maintain essential community care, ensuring timely access for residents,” said Sylvia Jones, MPP for Dufferin-Caledon. “The 5 percent increase in funding reflects the continuous support from both the County of Dufferin and our Government for local emergency services and their critical contributions.”
In addition, to further reduce delays paramedics encounter when arriving at hospitals to transfer patients, Ontario is investing $327,040 in Dufferin-County through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to hire nurses and other eligible health professionals dedicated to offloading ambulance patients in hospital emergency departments.
The program allows paramedics to get back out into the community faster and respond to their next 9-1-1 call sooner and has played a significant role in reducing ambulance offload times and increasing ambulance availability for 9-1-1 patients across the province. As a result of this investment and the collaboration between paramedics and hospital professionals, provincial ambulance offload time has been reduced by approximately 68 per cent since its peak in October 2022.
“Continued investment by the Province of Ontario through the Land Ambulance Service Grant and Dedicated Offload Nurse funding will help ensure ambulances remain available in our communities when residents need them most,” said Chief Paramedic Gary Staples, Dufferin County Paramedic Service. “By reducing hospital offload delays and strengthening frontline paramedic resources, this funding will improve system capacity and support more timely access to paramedic services across Dufferin County.”
Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government continues to take bold and decisive action to protect the province’s health-care system and ensure people and their families have access to high-quality care closer to home for generations to come.
QUICK FACTS
• The government’s additional investments in the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program over three years have helped municipalities cover more than 1.6 million dedicated hours to support offloading ambulance patients in the emergency department.
• Currently over 300 patient care models led by paramedic services across the province are now approved to provide appropriate and timely care options for eligible 9-1-1 patients in the community, instead of in the emergency department.
• To help increase the number of paramedics in the province, the expanded Ontario Learn and Stay Grant provides students studying in the first year of a paramedic program at select post-secondary institutions with funding for free tuition, books, compulsory fees and other direct educational costs. After graduating, students will be required to work in the same region they studied in, for a minimum of six months for every full year of study funded by the grant.
• The Ontario government has helped more students who want to become a paramedic in Ontario by adding more than 300 student spaces in paramedic programs at provincial colleges across Ontario.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
• Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care
MEDIA CONTACT
The Office of MPP Sylvia Jones
180 Broadway, 3rd Floor, Suite A, Orangeville, ON L9W 1K3
Riley Murphy – Constituency Assistant
1-800-265-1603