Nursing Job Cuts in Toronto Raise Concerns About Patient Safety
Latest news on WhatsApp أجدد الأخبار على واتسابNursing staffing changes at Toronto’s University Health Network have triggered new concern in Ontario’s health-care sector after the Ontario Nurses’ Association said the network cut 28 positions over two weeks, including 21 roles in the hemodialysis unit at Toronto General Hospital. The unit treats patients with acute kidney injury and end-stage renal disease, putting immediate attention on how the changes could affect day-to-day care and rapid response to complications.
UHN, however, says the move is not a simple one-for-one cut. The hospital network described it as an adjustment to its staffing mix in response to changing patient needs, reduced in-centre dialysis demand over time, and the expanded role of registered practical nurses. It also said diabetes education and some post-surgical support functions will continue through different care models and newer organization-wide programs.
ONA president Erin Ariss warned that removing specialized registered nurses from high-acuity areas such as dialysis could slow intervention when a patient’s condition changes suddenly. She said delays in dialysis settings can mean hospitalization or worse, arguing that replacing more specialized roles with a lower-cost staffing model creates additional risks for both patients and staff.
The dispute comes amid a broader wave of health-care cuts in Ontario. ONA said more than 700 front-line nurse and health-care worker positions have been cut across the province since January 2025. Separately, Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office projected that under the province’s 2025 health spending plan, the number of provincially funded nurses would fall from 150,989 in 2024-25 to 143,726 by 2027-28, a drop of 7,263.
That leaves Ontario facing a sharper political and public debate over whether hospital cost control is starting to translate into slower, less secure care for patients in one of Canada’s busiest urban health systems.
