Ontario building, expanding 16 teaching clinics

The Ontario government is investing up to $8 million to support planning for 16 new and expanded primary care teaching clinics across the province to connect 300,000 more people to primary care. This investment is part of the government’s $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan to connect everyone in Ontario to primary care by 2029.

“These new primary care teaching clinics will further protect our health-care system by training the next generation of primary care clinicians, right here in Ontario,” said Health Minister Sylvia Jones. “This builds on our government’s unprecedented investments in primary care that will ensure anyone who wants to connect to a primary care clinician can have reliable access to primary care, no matter where they live.”

Each teaching clinic will receive up to $500,000 to support planning work. In partnership with Ontario’s medical schools, these clinics will train family medicine residents in a team-based model alongside other health-care professionals, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants and registered nurses. These clinics will offer training that combines direct patient care with hands-on learning in team-based environments, all while providing primary care for an additional 300,000 people. Initial teaching clinics are targeted to open in 2027-28, with further expansion to follow.

“This investment in critical infrastructure will strengthen team-based primary care in Ontario,” said Dr. Jane Philpott, Chair of Ontario’s Primary Care Action Team. “These new teaching clinics will train the next generation of family physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals to work in teams while delivering vital care to patients who currently lack access.”

This funding is part of the government’s broader investment of up to $300 million – part of the $2.1 billion Primary Care Action Plan – to build new and expanded community-based primary care teaching clinics in areas with high rates of unattachment. In addition to funding planning grants for 16 new and expanded teaching clinics, two new primary care teaching clinics at Toronto Metropolitan University will bring the total to 18 clinics.

The medical schools (primary care teaching clinic site locations) receiving funding include: McMaster University (Milton and Niagara), NOSM University (Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, and North Bay), Queen’s University (Oshawa, Kingston and Belleville), University of Ottawa (Central Ottawa), University of Toronto (Scarborough-two sites), and Western University (London East, Sarnia and Woodstock).