Ontario Nurses' Association

Ontario Nurses' Association We are 68,000 nurses and health-care professionals, and 18,000 nursing students. Stay in the Fight. And fight like a nurse.

Founded in 1973, the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) is the trade union that represents 68,000 registered nurses and health-care professionals and 18,000 nursing students providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry. This page is a space for members and the public to learn more about ONA, our work and advocacy. Constructive, respectfu

l, and relevant discussion is encouraged. ONA is not responsible for content posted to this page by members of the public, but we reserve the right to moderate all posts and comments according to the following guidelines. Comments that contain any of the following will be deleted:

• Sexist, racist, homophobic or otherwise prejudiced or discriminatory language;
• Profanity or language deemed to be offensive;
• Personal attacks;
• False or defamatory statements or reports;
• Disclosure of others’ private information;
• Content deemed to be spam;
• Expressions of support for or against a particular candidate or slate in union elections. Users who post the above prohibited comments one or more times may be banned from ONA’s page. We will not tolerate harassment, discrimination or otherwise abusive conduct. We are committed to maintaining the integrity of our online space for users.

A key part of ONA's F-Word digital magazine is the Fight section, where you share your stories of your fight and solidar...
04/23/2026

A key part of ONA's F-Word digital magazine is the Fight section, where you share your stories of your fight and solidarity in action.

In this piece, an ONA member shares how they and their colleagues in a health-care professional bargaining unit organized with ONA to fight for wage parity from their employer.

Read their story: https://onamag.org/fight/the-vent/backbone/

And if you have a story you'd like to vent about, submit it to F-Word here: https://onamag.org/contact/

04/22/2026

To ensure health care for all, Ontario must stop health care privatization and implement mandatory safe staffing ratios. Across the province ONA members are collecting petitions to show growing support for this demand.

Last week MPP Jennifer French from the Ontario NDP read more than 120 petitions into the Legislature, demanding that FordNation and Sylvia Jones introduce nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in all health-care settings.

MPPs from all of Ontario’s opposition parties are in support of this call for staffing ratios, and it’s time for the conservative government to take action on this issue!

Learn more: https://ona.org/campaign/health-care-for-all/

Canada is still facing a persistent nursing shortage, driven in part by retention challenges, heavy workloads and excess...
04/21/2026

Canada is still facing a persistent nursing shortage, driven in part by retention challenges, heavy workloads and excessive overtime. That’s why the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions is asking the federal government to give nurses a tax break—and ONA is lending our support to this call!

To show your support for getting nurses the break they need, add your signature to the CFNU’s parliamentary petition: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Sign/e-7298

More than 4,400 nurses and health-care professionals working in long-term care homes—members of ONA—are calling for urge...
04/20/2026

More than 4,400 nurses and health-care professionals working in long-term care homes—members of ONA—are calling for urgent investments in resident care, rather than allowing public funds to flow to shareholder profits.

“For far too long, for-profit long-term care operators have generated tens of millions in profits with little accountability to residents, their families, or Ontarians,” said ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN. “Nurses and health-care professionals deliver round-the-clock care to some of the most vulnerable people in our society, yet they earn more than 10 per cent less than hospital nurses providing comparable care. It’s time these employers show respect for the essential work nurses perform every day.”

The concerns come amid rising profits in the sector. In 2025, Extendicare reported $96 million in profits—an increase of 28 per cent over the previous year—while CEO Michael Guerriere received total compensation of $2.6 million. Front-line staff say these gains are not reflected in their wages or working conditions. Instead, they continue to face chronic understaffing and limited resources while striving to provide high-quality care.

The widening wage gap between long-term care and hospital nurses, combined with difficult working conditions, is driving many skilled professionals out of the sector in search of better pay and support.

“Under the FordNation government, we’ve seen non-profit long-term care homes close while for-profit operators receive funding and contracts to expand,” Ariss added. “Residents deserve consistent, high-quality care, and the best way to achieve that is through legislated staffing ratios and fair compensation.”

ONA members say the provincial government must take decisive action to hold corporations accountable. By mandating safe staffing levels, improving wages, and ensuring public funding is directed to care—not profits—Ontario can strengthen its long-term care system and deliver the quality of care residents deserve.

Read our full release: https://ona.org/news/20260420-ltc-staffing-struggles/

Health-care professionals at Ontario Health atHome recently selected ONA as the union to represent them. To welcome all ...
04/20/2026

Health-care professionals at Ontario Health atHome recently selected ONA as the union to represent them.

To welcome all of these new ONA members, we are hosting two virtual town halls where OHaH members will have the opportunity to learn more, ask questions, and help shape our collective path forward.

We encourage all OHaH members to please register for the session that corresponds with your branch:

If you work in North West, Waterloo Wellington, Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant, North East, Simcoe Muskoka, South East, Champlain or Mississauga Halton, please register for the May 6 town hall from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET. here: https://ona.zoom.us/meeting/register/sLs0n4SQSwWwV0izlD36Yw #/registration

If you work in Central, Central East, Central West, Toronto Central, South West or Erie St. Clair, please register for the May 7 town hall from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET. here: https://ona.zoom.us/meeting/register/GcKtQiBKTx-LxbzVGQZTAQ #/registration

Please be sure to register as soon as possible as only registered users can attend the town hall.

Publicly-funded, publicly-delivered health care is under attack by provincial governments across the country, and it's t...
04/18/2026

Publicly-funded, publicly-delivered health care is under attack by provincial governments across the country, and it's time for the federal government to step up to defend it!

That's what Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silas argues in this piece, where she highlights how the conservative government in Alberta has passed legislation that could easily be copied in Ontario.

Read her full piece: https://onamag.org/fuel/code-blue/feds-must-defend/

More than 900 nurses at Markham Stouffville Hospital (MSH) voted to join the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) this week...
04/17/2026

More than 900 nurses at Markham Stouffville Hospital (MSH) voted to join the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) this week, marking one of the largest unionization drives in health care in Ontario in years.

“We are thrilled to welcome the nurses at Markham Stouffville Hospital. This is a huge win for all nurses and health-care professionals,” explains Erin Ariss, registered nurse and ONA Provincial President. “This win strengthens our united movement across the province to fight back against a government and employers who are hellbent on privatizing our health care and cutting front-line care.”

Nurses at MSH work hard to provide high-quality, timely care to more than 480,000 patients a year, ranging from emergency care and diagnostics to clinical programs. This year, MSH announced layoffs to front-line staff in order to balance their budget. This is part of a larger trend across public hospitals in Ontario to prioritize budgets over high-quality, timely patient care. With more cuts on the way, ONA members across the province are telling Ontarians the truth about how devastating this will be to patient care.

Ariss says, “With an overwhelming majority of the nurses voting in favour, it is clear that they urgently want a strong union that will fight for safe staffing levels, reasonable workloads, fair wages and more. Together with these new ONA members, we will continue to fight for better working conditions and high-quality, timely public health care for all.”

See our full release: https://ona.org/news/20260417-markham-stouffville-joins/

ONA says that The Ottawa Hospital - L'Hôpital d'Ottawa is aiming to cut hundreds of front-line nursing positions, leavin...
04/17/2026

ONA says that The Ottawa Hospital - L'Hôpital d'Ottawa is aiming to cut hundreds of front-line nursing positions, leaving patients with less care.

“It is absurd that in a province like Ontario, which already has the worst nurse-to-population ratio in all of Canada, a hospital is targeting nurses to make up for underfunding of the public health-care system by the Ford government,” says ONA Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN. “Nurses have borne the brunt of inadequate funding for decades, suffering round after round of cuts even as mounting evidence shows us that we should be increasing RN staffing.”

The more than 200 cuts at The Ottawa Hospital include registered nurses, clinical care leaders, nurse specialists and nurse educators in several areas across the hospital.

“The breadth of these cuts is incredibly worrisome. Eliminating front-line staff is not just trimming a budget, it’s dismantling the backbone of patient care,” says Ariss. “Our members are beyond angry about the cuts, which will lead to longer wait times, increased burnout and risks to patient safety.”

See our full release: https://ona.org/news/20260417-ottawa-hospital-cuts/

More than 4,400 ONA members, working at nursing homes across the province are negotiating a new collective agreement, an...
04/16/2026

More than 4,400 ONA members, working at nursing homes across the province are negotiating a new collective agreement, and today members took their demands to the annual shareholders meeting of Extendicare, one of Canada's largest for-profit nursing home chains that made $96 MILLION in profit last year!

While members picketed outside the meeting, telling shareholders that Extendicare needs to prioritize CARE over profit, another group quietly slipped into the meeting itself. Once inside, they put tough questions about how Extendicare staff reported being understaffed, under resourced and underpaid to a visibly-flustered Extendicare CEO Michael Guerriere, who earned $2.6 million in 2025.

While Guerriere was earning $2.6 million in 2025, his nurses
and health-care professionals were making, on average, 10.8 %
LESS than those working in hospitals. This disrespect and poor working conditions are pushing his staff to leave nursing homes.

Instead of lining the pockets of shareholders, CEOs and the
Conservatives must prioritize care, not profit and
ensure fair wages, benefits and working conditions for the
front-line staff that provide resident care!

Tell them to negotiate a fair and respectful contract with staff in nursing homes: https://ona.org/campaign/nursing-homes-bargaining/

REMINDER: Today is the FINAL day to submit your expression of interest in joining the Provincial Political Action Commit...
04/16/2026

REMINDER: Today is the FINAL day to submit your expression of interest in joining the Provincial Political Action Committee as a representative for ONA Region 3.

Find out more about this exciting opportunity and submit your expression of interest on our website (scroll down to "Provincial Political Action Committee") at https://ona.org/join-a-committee-or-team/board-committees/ . We only accept EOI submissions through our online form on the ONA website.

The deadline to submit your EOI is April 16, 2026.

Please note that this is a temporary replacement role to serve on the committee for the balance of 2026.

04/15/2026

To ensure health care for all, Ontario must stop health care privatization and implement mandatory safe staffing ratios. Across the province ONA members are collecting petitions to show growing support for this demand.

MPPs from the Ontario Liberal Party / Parti Libéral de l'Ontario and Green Party of Ontario read more than 570 petitions into the Legislature, demanding that FordNation Sylvia Jones introduce nurse-to-patient staffing ratios in all health-care settings.

MPPs from all of Ontario’s opposition parties are in support of this call for staffing ratios, and it’s time for the conservative government to take action on this issue!

Learn more: https://ona.org/campaign/health-care-for-all/


Thank you Tyler Watt Mike Schreiner

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Toronto, ON

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