September 19, 2025
RED FM News Desk
Toronto, ON – Ontario doctors have finalized a new four-year agreement with the provincial government that includes general pay increases and compensation for family physicians’ administrative work—changes aimed at improving access to care and easing recruitment challenges.
An arbitrator had already awarded physicians a nearly 10 per cent increase for the first year of the Physician Services Agreement. The latest ruling grants an additional 7.3 per cent increase spread over the remaining three years, along with top-ups for specialists, including doctors at children’s hospitals.
The Ministry of Health said the deal also contains measures to encourage doctors to take on new patients and expand after-hours care.
A key update involves Ontario’s Family Health Organization model. Under the new terms, family doctors will be paid for time spent on administrative tasks and receive better compensation for treating complex patients. The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) says this is expected to improve physician retention and attract more doctors into family medicine.
“We had a lot of people who were hesitating to set up a full family practice because they didn’t see it as financially viable,” said OMA president Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman. “This agreement shows family medicine can be sustainable.”
The OMA estimates 2.5 million Ontarians are without a family doctor. While the government says Ontario leads the country in primary care attachment, officials acknowledge persistent gaps in rural and underserved communities.
As an interim measure during negotiations, the province launched a program to stabilize staffing in rural emergency departments and expand access to care in underserved regions.
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