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Rishika Wadehra and Jesse Rosenberg

Ontario Election series: Analysis of party platforms on health system equity

Mature patient getting doctor's reports from a nurse after medical examination in the hospital.

Wellesley Institute’s Ontario Election 2025 series laid out our recommendations for what provincial party leaders can do to advance health equity in three key areas: thriving – policies that will help ensure people have what they need to live a healthy life, health system equity, and housing. Below, we examine the parties’ commitments on health system equity leading up to the election on February 27.  

We have incorporated only what has been announced to date and included policies and legislation introduced by the current government in recent budgets. For the purposes of this analysis, we have presumed all parties used the current “status quo” from the most recent provincial budget as their baseline. We also presume that, unless parties have been explicit about reducing funding from that budget, they do not intend to do so. 

Our overall analysis 

All political parties have committed to increasing access to primary care providers. As there are pre-existing disparities in access to primary care for equity-deserving populations, these general steps may help. No party promised to ensure these efforts would include sub-population targets and steps specifically designed to advance equity in primary care access. Furthermore, access is only one piece. A broader strategy to address inequities in primary care must be developed with community partners and experts.  

The Green Party of Ontario has recognized the need in their healthcare plan to address social determinants of health through upstream investments along with increasing access to services. We also note the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario includes its previously announced Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) changes in its healthcare section. The next government must develop a healthcare strategy that focuses on illness prevention and health promotion rather than short-term solutions.  

We are also pleased to see that the Green Party, Ontario Liberal Party and the Ontario New Democratic Party (Ontario NDP) have all committed to expanding basic mental health care under OHIP.  

We commend the Ontario NDP for their specific expansions of care targeted at equity-seeking groups. 

Unfortunately, no party has firmly committed to mandating healthcare service providers to collect race-based data or require and publicize the results of the use of the Health Equity Impact Assessment tool. Both of these measures are essential to identify and address disparities in healthcare experiences and outcomes. 

Below, please find details of what we found in each party’s platform, presented alphabetically by party name. 

Green Party of Ontario 

On health system equity, the Green Party proposes to: 

  • Cover all mental health and addiction treatment costs under OHIP and increase funding for community mental health services. 
  • Increase funding for the community health sector to help address the staffing crisis and ensure timely and quality care. 
  • Expand and provide start-up funding for family health teams across the province with a wider variety of care, including social workers and addictions care. 
  • Increase upstream investments in the social determinants of health, such as reducing social isolation, housing insecurity and poverty.  
  • Support and promote healthy behaviours to prevent disease and reduce risk factors. 
  • Increase core funding for community-based mental and physical health supports in racialized, newcomer and other underserved communities. 

Ontario Liberal Party 

On health system equity, the Ontario Liberal Party proposes to: 

  • Connect everyone in Ontario with a family doctor within four years of the election by “integrating” 3,100 family doctors by 2029. 
  • Introduce universal mental healthcare under OHIP by expanding the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy Program. 

Ontario New Democrat Party 

On health system equity, the Ontario NDP proposes to: 

  • Invest $4.1 billion over four years to connect people to team-based primary care, including by adding 3,500 more doctors to the primary care system, and hiring more nurse practitioners, healthcare workers and support staff. 
  • Expand OHIP to include coverage for prescription contraception, the HPV vaccine at any age, PrEP and PEP for HIV prevention, and take-home cervical cancer test kits. 
  • Establish universal basic mental healthcare. 
  • Increase funding to community mental health service providers, including the Canadian Mental Health Association and Addictions and Mental Health Ontario. 

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario 

The current government previously committed to invest $1.8 billion in a four-year plan to connect everyone in Ontario to a primary care provider.  

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Rishika Wadehra

Rishika Wadehra

Rishika Wadehra holds a Master of Public Policy from the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Her policy interests lie in the areas of health and social policy, including child care, education, immigration and inequality. Prior to joining Wellesley Institute, she completed a fellowship at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and worked as a research assistant at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Global Social Policy, where she researched how different regions have responded to the growing demands for care work and its implications on gender inequality, racialization, the labour market and population health. rishika_w

Jesse Rosenberg

Jesse Rosenberg

Jesse Rosenberg is a legal and policy professional with political and policy experience in the fields of health, labour and justice. Director of Policy at the Wellesley Institute, Jesse previously held leadership roles with the government of Ontario and the Ontario College of Trades. He has extensive experience and expertise in stakeholder relations and legislative and regulatory development and analysis. He holds a Bachelor of Humanities from Carleton University and a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall.

Acknowledgement of Traditional Land

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the Wellesley Institute operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.

Revised by the Ceremonial Committee at the University of Toronto Office of Indigenous Initiatives in April 2021.