(Ottawa) Ontario Premier Doug Ford signed a $3.1 billion agreement with Ottawa on Friday to improve access to front-line health care.
Ontario is the fifth province to sign its share of the $200 billion in federal health transfers over ten years that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered to the provinces and territories a year ago.
British Columbia, Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have since signed agreements with Ottawa on these transfers.
Ontario has promised to fill health care shortages by hiring hundreds of new family doctors and nurse practitioners, as well as thousands of nurses and attendants.
The Ford government also plans to make it easier for internationally trained doctors and health care workers to practice the profession by simplifying the process of obtaining practice permits.
All provinces that sign an agreement with Ottawa to obtain the transfers must also work to modernize their health data systems, starting with making patient records more accessible and transferable across the country.