Permanent Steps Needed to Address Healthcare Wage Inequities

We believe that you are sincere with this pledge and we have welcomed the actions that have followed for training, hours of care, facility upgrades, and pandemic pay for the long term care sector and for home and community care workers. We know that change will take time, but as long as actions such as these continue, we are committed to working constructively with your government on the adjustments needed.

It is through this lens that we call to your attention the expiration of the pandemic pay for personal support workers in long term care, homecare, and community care. Premier, these workers need your continued support. The time is now to take a permanent step to address the wage inequity in the healthcare sector and to begin working toward stronger compensation levels that will attract and retain the workers who care for our elderly and those Ontarians requiring additional support.

We have seen a number of reports tabled over the past year that highlight the challenges that wage levels and wage inequity have created for attracting and retaining nurses and personal support workers. An important first step for permanent change will be to level the wage playing field.

This recommendation was made by Ontario’s Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission in its final report (Recommendation 49):

The Ministry of Long-Term Care must . . . provide funding adequate to support these changes, which must include:

a. Creating more full-time direct care positions. A target of 70 per cent full-time positions for nursing and personal support worker staff should be set for each long-term care home; and

b. Reviewing agreements with direct care staff and making adjustments to better align their wages and benefits within the sector and with those provided in public hospitals.
Similarly, the long-term care staffing study commissioned by Minister Fullerton reported that the “lack of wage and benefit parity across the care continuum can contribute to labour challenges, and could be a possible deterrent, to working in long-term care. Any steps to address compensation need to consider the labour market across the health care sector as a whole.” The authors of that report went on to recommend that “[c]ompensation parity should be strongly considered across settings and occupations to reduce compensation-related labour shortages.”

Taking action to level the playing field will mean bringing all workers to a fair level of compensation and counteracting the impact of years of compensation caps and freezes imposed on these workers, of which Bill 124 was just one example.

Premier, the temporary solutions were welcome, but we need permanent forward action. Please act now to secure a permanent wage adjustment for workers in long term care and homecare that is in proper and competitive alignment with the hospital sector.

Sincerely,

Ian DeWaard
Ontario Director

cc. Honourable Christine Elliot, Minister of Health
Honourable Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care