(Doctors performing an Orthopedic surgery. Photo: Shutterstock)
The Ontario government is investing $125 million over two years to add four new community surgical and diagnostic centres licensed to deliver orthopedic surgeries across the province. This expansion will reduce wait times and support up to 20,000 additional publicly funded orthopedic surgeries as part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario’s health-care system.
“Our government is leading the country with continued investments that have resulted in the shortest surgical wait times of any province, as we continue taking bold action to help more Ontarians live fuller, more active lives,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By expanding orthopedic surgery capacity across Ontario, we are redoubling our efforts to reduce wait times and get more people access to life-changing procedures sooner, helping them regain mobility, reduce pain and return to the activities they love.”
Following a Call for Applications, four new licences will be issued starting in early 2026 to deliver orthopedic surgeries for hip and knee replacements. This expansion will ensure that 90 per cent of Ontario patients receive orthopedic care within clinically recommended timeframes, up from the current level of 80 per cent for hip and knee replacements and continuing the government’s goal to connect every patient to convenient care faster.
Minister Jones made the announcement at OV Surgical Centre in Toronto, one of the four sites receiving funding to begin offering orthopedic services. Additional recipients of orthopedic licenses include:
- Academic Orthopedic Surgical Associates of Ottawa (AOAO) in partnership with The Ottawa Hospital (TOH)
- Windsor Orthopedic Surgical Centre
- Schroeder Ambulatory Centre
The Ottawa Hospital shared on their website that “in line with our public health-care system, no patient at TOH, AOAO or Focus Eye Centre pays for any surgery. As with all TOH finances, any efficiencies created in these cases are reinvested into patient care, which is and always will be our priority. For example, the cost of a knee or hip surgery at TOH is approximately $8,000, while the cost of doing that same surgery through AOAO is $6,400. Those cost savings are reinvested into the hospital and patient care.”
This announcement builds on the government’s $155 million investment to add 57 new community surgical and diagnostic centres to connect over 1.2 million people to MRI scans, CT scans and gastrointestinal endoscopy services across the province and a $235 million investment to expand and create more than 130 primary care teams that will link 300,000 more patients to care this year.
As the government expands the number of surgeries and procedures being done through community surgical and diagnostic centres, it is also ensuring these centres are integrated and linked with the broader public health system. This includes requiring new facilities to provide detailed staffing plans that protect the stability of staffing resources at public hospitals, report into the province’s wait times information system and participate in regional central intakes, where available, to ensure people get the care they need as quickly as possible.
All community surgical and diagnostic centres are under the oversight of Accreditation Canada’s new quality-assurance program, which applies many of the same requirements of public hospitals to ensure consistent patient safety and quality care.
As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, Ontario continues to take bold and decisive action to expand the number of community surgical and diagnostic centres, connecting more patients to high-quality care, and ensuring people and their families have access to high-quality care, closer to home, for generations to come.