Ontario’s Surgical Performance Plan Drives Better Access to Surgery

Ontario’s surgical system is seeing measurable, province-wide improvements as Ontario Health’s surgical performance plan continues to reduce wait times, restore access and ensure more patients receive surgery within clinically recommended timelines. This progress reflects a strategic combination of targeted funding, regional leadership and rigorous performance management across the system.

Reducing Long Waiters Across Surgical Service Areas

Over the last three years, the number of Ontarians waiting longer than clinically recommended for surgery (referred to as long waiters) has been cut almost in half – from approximately 97,000 at its COVID-related peak in May 2022 to about 52,000 today, a 46 per cent reduction. System-wide performance has also improved substantially with the proportion of surgeries completed within target timelines rising from 73 per cent in April 2022 to nearly 85 per cent today. Efforts are underway to build on this progress with a target of completing 85 to 90 per cent this year.

A central driver of this progress has been targeted investments that will allow for more surgeries, particularly for procedures with long wait times or high unmet need.

These improvements are seen in all surgical service areas, not only in high-volume procedures such as hips, knees and cataracts, but also in historically underfunded procedures. One such procedure is a benign gynecologic procedure, where long waiters declined from 52 per cent in 2022 to 40 per cent in 2025, with the percentage completed within target timelines increasing from 58 per cent to 70 per cent over the same period.

Strengthening Surgical Capacity Through Targeted Investments

Investments such as the Surgical Pathway Training Fund, administered by Ontario Health, have provided ongoing support to hospitals since 2022, strengthening surgical capacity through health professional upskilling.

Funding spans the full surgical pathway, supporting the training of operating room nurses and technicians, anaesthesia assistants, medical device reprocessing technicians, medical radiation technologists and systemic therapy nurses. As a result, nearly 4,000 health professionals have received upskilling training across Ontario, helping to increase surgical volumes and reduce wait times.

Regional Collaboration and Performance Management

Ontario Health regions have also played a critical role by identifying opportunities to establish and scale collaborative surgical networks that increase capacity and improve coordination and efficiency.

For example, in the northeast region, hospitals have collaborated through a coordinated regional surgical network that pools resources, harmonizes wait list management and expands shared operating capacity. This approach has helped stabilize access across smaller and rural hospitals while improving coordination and throughput across the region.

Other Ontario Health regions have also developed and executed targeted strategies to address long waiters using established performance management frameworks. Targeted wait list cleanup at the facility level has helped identify performance variations across institutions, supporting continuous improvement across the system.

Building Confidence in Timely, Patient-Centered Care

Together, these improvements reflect a system working more effectively for patients – building confidence, improving access and ensuring the people of Ontario receive the right care, at the right time, now and into the future.