The Ontario government spent much of 2025 talking about how it can deliver more surgical care more affordably in privately owned community surgical clinics. In 2026, it should do so even more quickly and more boldly.
Doug Ford’s government late last year announced a $125 million investment to move 20,000 publicly funded orthopedic procedures, such as hip and knee replacements, to privately owned facilities. Earlier in 2025, it announced another $155 million to move more MRI and CT diagnostics to private facilities, while ensuring the public health care plan will continue to pay.
As a physician who operates in both Ontario and Quebec, I applaud these moves. It’s past time we modernized Canadian health care and delivered low-risk procedures outside of the overburdened hospital system. We can and should perform low-risk procedures in community surgical facilities, whether they are public, non-profit or private, while saving money and improving patient care.