Hundreds rally in Waterloo over concerns about hospital funding, privatization

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Waterloo, Ont., Saturday to protest the Ontario government's push to privatize healthcare. CTV's Hannah Schmidt reports.

Hundreds of people gathered in Waterloo Saturday to protest what they described as increasing pressure on Ontario’s public healthcare system, including concerns about hospital funding, staffing shortages and the growing role of private clinics.

The demonstration at Waterloo Town Square, organized by the Waterloo Region Health Coalition (WRHC), was part of a coordinated day of action across several Ontario communities.

Protesters carried signs, chanted slogans and called on the provincial government to prioritize investment in public hospitals.

“Almost 500 people showed up to talk about what’s happening to our public health care system, the privatization and the dismantling the destruction of our public health care system by this administration,” said Jim Stewart, chair of the coalition. “And we’re here really to send a clear message to them saying that we’d like them to stop. In fact, the people here seemed to demand that it stop privatizing our public health care.”

Organizers say hospitals in Waterloo region are facing increased strain due to population growth and ongoing staffing shortages.

“We’ve got less staff providing care because of the underfunding of our public hospitals,” Stewart said. “They’re working with fewer people all the time, trying to do more work because of the population growth.”

He argued that shifting procedures to privately operated clinics could further strain the system by drawing resources away from hospitals.

“By privatizing our health care hospital services to these for-profit clinics, all we’re doing is actually taking more of the resources out of our hospitals,” Stewart said.

Opposition politicians echoed those concerns at the rally.

“We’ve been facing a doctor shortage for years now, and it’s hard to attract doctors into a broken system,” said Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife. “There’s a lack of confidence in this government actually being invested in public health care.”

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles also addressed the crowd, framing the issue as one of her government’s priorities.

“What people here and all across the province care about is they’re worried about how much everything costs, like rent and groceries,” Stiles said. “They can’t find a family doctor, that their hospital emergency wait times are outrageous, that people are getting treated in hallways.”

The Ontario government has previously said that expanding the role of private clinics is intended to reduce backlogs and improve wait times.

Critics, however, argue those services can cost more per procedure and risk diverting staff and funding from public hospitals.

“OHIP is going to have to pay 20 per cent more for each one of these procedures that’s delivered by private clinics. So, it’s a far more costly perspective, and it’s a much less efficient way of proceeding,” Stewart explained.

Participants at the rally included students and local residents, some of whom said they are worried about long-term access to care.

“I recently ruptured my ACL, so that’s actually a really stressful time for me,” said Cadence Daya, a local university student who moved to Waterloo from Nova Scotia. “I’m kind of stuck. I have bad health care at home, bad health care at school. What am I supposed to do?”

“Having family members who’ve needed to get crucial health care, and having them need to wait seriously long wait times and just delays after delays, is really concerning to me,” added student Nina Difelice.

Saturday’s protest is the first in a planned series of demonstrations across the province. Organizers say more events are expected in the coming weeks, including a trip to Queen’s Park at the end of May.

“It’s really important that the people get out here and voice their complaints about the destruction of one of the pillars of our society, our public health-care system, the Americanization of our health care system,” Stewart said.

The coalition invites those interested in rallying at Queen’s Park to join them on May 28. They said they’ll be meeting at the Kitchener GO Train station at 8:30 a.m., before heading to downtown Toronto.

CTV News reached out to the Ministry of Health for comment.