NDP: Financial watchdog report shows steady decline in hospital beds, doctors, and social assistance over the past three decades

TORONTO – Ontario NDP Shadow Minister for Finance Jessica Bell (University – Rosedale) has issued the following statement in response to the Financial Accountability Officer’s latest report showing a decline in government spending on key social programs:

“The report shines a spotlight on what the Conservatives are doing with our money. Never have we seen a government spend so much and get so little done for the people of Ontario.

“Under Premier Ford, our public health care system is buckling. We have fewer hospital beds, fewer doctors, and a dangerous increase in hallway medicine and emergency room closures.

“Social assistance rates are lower today than they were 20 years ago, despite sky-high housing costs and a rise in homelessness. We should be lifting people up, not sending them deeper into poverty.

“There is so much uncertainty in our province right now. With Trump’s tariffs hanging over us, we know that life is about to get even more expensive for so many.

“We need to make sure that our people can weather this storm. That means, a government that invests in the things that matter most – reliable health care, affordable homes, and good schools.

Let’s get to work, take care of our people, and strengthen Ontario.”

QUICK FACTS:

• The FAO report shows that per capita federal transfers have increased faster than provincial spending
• Under consecutive Conservative and Liberal governments long-term care beds per capita have declined by 45 per cent, from 99 to 62 beds per 1,000 seniors
• There has been a steady decline in the number of hospital beds per 100,000 people – from 478 in 1990-91 to 222 in 2023-24, with the lowest number recorded in 2016 under the Liberal government
• Ontario has half the hospital beds per capita it did 30 years ago. In the last 10 years of Liberal and Conservative governance the province has only gained a single bed per 100,000 Ontarians.
• On a real per student basis postsecondary education spending decreased at an average annual rate of -0.3% from $14,183 in 1990-91 to $12,994 in 2023-24