MEDIA ADVISORY: New report shows for-profit staffing agencies drained $9.2 billion from Ontario’s hospitals over 10-year period

Event Information

Begins: 13 May 2025
Location: Hamilton, ON

CCPA research study exploring the intersection of hospital underfunding and growth of private staffing agencies to be released on Tuesday morning

HAMILTON, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– The staffing crisis stemming from chronic underfunding of Ontario’s hospitals has fueled a dramatic growth in the usage of for-profit staffing agencies to the tune of $9.2 billion, according to a new research study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Drawing on data obtained from multiple sources including Ontario hospitals’ financial documents, Hollowed Out: Ontario public hospitals and the rise of private staffing agencies takes a deep dive into the intersection between insufficient hospital funding and the proliferation of staffing agencies across the 14 regions of the province. The study points out the worse-affected regions and hospitals with respect to the reliance on agency usage and hospital deficits.

On Tuesday morning at the CUPE 7800 office, Andrew Longhurst, the author of the study, will be joined by Michael Hurley, the president of CUPE’s hospital division, to reveal detailed findings from the in-depth research report as well as recommendations to address the hospital staffing crisis.

WHEN:
10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 13

WHERE:
CUPE 7800 Office, 795 King St E, Suite 102, Hamilton, ON

WHAT:
Media conference to release findings of new research report about growth in private staffing agencies and underfunding of Ontario’s hospitals

WHO:
Andrew Longhurst, B.A. (Hons), M.A., political economist, PhD candidate, Simon Fraser University, research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and author of the new report. Previous publications include At What Cost? Ontario hospital privatization and the threat to public health care (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2023) and Failing to Deliver: The Alberta Surgical Initiative and Declining Surgical Capacity (Parkland Institute, 2023).

Michael Hurley, president, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, OCHU/CUPE since 1990 representing 50,000 Ontario hospital employees. Under his leadership, OCHU/CUPE has published numerous research reports on Ontario’s hospitals including, recently, No Respite: Ontario’s failure to plan for hospital patients (2024). Hurley has also co-authored multiple studies on health care workers including Sacrificed: Ontario health care workers in the time of COVID-19.

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For more information, please contact:

Zee Noorsumar, CUPE Communications
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859