To help steer the province through the effects of a devastating pandemic, RNAO released a provincial election platform during its annual Queen’s Park Day. Ontario’s nursing crisis: Your health, your health system outlines recommendations it wants all political parties to adopt ahead of the June 2 election. The recommendations cover five key areas that shape people’s ability to be healthy: the environment, social determinants of health, nursing, care delivery and fiscal capacity.

With a federal election happening on Sept. 20, 2021, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) calls on Canadians to vote for health. RNAO’s policy platform for this election, released today, asks voters to choose health when they head to the polls.

RNAO’s Policy Department, under the direction of Matt Kellway, in partnership with our Communications and IT departments, is in the process of launching a brand-new policy website that will substantially enhance our outstanding policy work.

The federal government's budget contains progressive measures that address social determinants of health such as child care, affordable housing, infrastructure funding for Indigenous communities and a $15 minimum wage. It also pledges to continue programs that have lessened the socio-economic impacts resulting from the pandemic, especially on those most vulnerable. It does not move fast enough on national standards for long-term care (LTC) and offers no progress for a national pharmacare program.

RNAO’s media release on March 24 responded to the presentation of the Ontario budget in the legislature. RNAO is disappointed the government is failing to make the investments desperately needed to help nurses in the fight against COVID-19 and to sustain the nursing workforce after the pandemic.

The Ontario government released on Wednesday the Fall 2020 Budget. RNAO participated in the “lockdown” prior to the release and has subsequently been heavily involved with the media coverage of the budget and its ramifications. As you can see below, the budget received low scores from RNAO.