Ontario Connecting More People to Faster Emergency Care

September 9, 2025

Investments in emergency care have reduced ambulance offload times by 65 per cent.

NEWS

DUFFERIN COUNTY — The Ontario government is investing $5,492,778 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 11 per cent, bringing the province’s total investment in the region to $5,165,738 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 almost $1 billion in land ambulance funding Ontario is providing municipalities across the province this year, representing an average increase of 8.7 per cent from 2024.

In addition, to further reduce delays paramedics encounter when dropping patients off at a hospital, Ontario is investing $327,040 in the County of Dufferin through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to hire more 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 dedication of health-care professionals, provincial ambulance offload time has been reduced by approximately 65 per cent since its peak in October 2022.

“Our government is making record investments to protect Ontario’s health-care system and connect people to the care they need, when they need it,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “Through these additional investments, we are providing paramedics and emergency departments with the tools they need to connect more people across the province to high-quality emergency care, faster and closer to home.”

To ensure urgent patients receive critical care sooner, Ontario is also continuing to implement the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) across the province. The system helps to better prioritize and triage emergency medical calls and dispatch paramedics sooner. The province has expanded the use of MPDS to Mississauga, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Ottawa, Renfrew, Georgian, Kingston, Lindsay, Oshawa and Timmins and is accelerating progress to implement the system at the 10 remaining Central Ambulance Communication Centres across Ontario over a year ahead of schedule.

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 into the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program over three years will help municipalities cover around 800,000 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 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.

QUOTES

“Today marks a pivotal step forward for the safety and well-being of our community. With the increased funding for Dufferin County Paramedic Service, the Government of Ontario is investing in the dedicated paramedics who work tirelessly, often under challenging circumstances, to provide the highest level of care to residents. In addition, the Dedicated Offload Nurse funding will help ensure that paramedics remain available to respond to community needs in a timely manner, rather than being tied up in hospitals. This investment strengthens our local healthcare system, improves response times, and enhances the quality of care for all who call Dufferin County home.”

  • Garry Staples: Chief Paramedic for the County of Dufferin.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

MPP Sylvia Jones’ Constituency Office

Email – sylvia.jones@pc.ola.org

Phone – 1-800-265-1603

Address – 180 Broadway, 3rd Floor, Suite A, Orangeville, ON. L9W 1K3.