Province boosts Leeds and Grenville ambulance funding by 5 per cent
Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark joined United Counties of Leeds and Grenville Warden Corinna Smith-Gatcke, Leeds Grenville Paramedic Service Chief Jeff Carss, and local paramedics on Monday, August 31 to announce increased funding for the service. Ontario is providing the United Counties with $11,118,646 for land ambulance service this year, an increase of five per cent. The province is also investing $195,000 in the United Counties this year under the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program. – Photo submitted by MPP Steve Clark
The Ontario government is providing more than $11.1 million for land ambulance services in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville this year, along with an additional $195,000 aimed at reducing ambulance offload delays at hospitals.
Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark announced the funding on Monday, Aug. 31, stating tat the United Counties will receive $11,118,646 for land ambulance services, a five per cent increase over last year.
The funding is intended to help cover rising costs and maintain paramedic and ambulance services across the region.
“Paramedics are a vital part of our local healthcare system, responding to emergencies while also playing an invaluable role by providing high-quality community care to patients where they live,” said Clark in a statement. “I’m pleased that our government continues to increase funding for land ambulance services and support our outstanding paramedics. At the same time, we’re investing to reduce ambulance offload times at hospital emergency departments, ensuring paramedics can get back on the road and respond when they’re needed.”
The local investment is part of more than $1 billion Ontario is providing municipalities for land ambulance services this year. According to the province, funding across Ontario has increased by an average of nine per cent compared with 2025.
United Counties of Leeds and Grenville Warden Corinna Smith-Gatcke welcomed the increase, pointing to growing costs and demand for paramedic services.
“We are very pleased to receive a five-per-cent increase in funding to help address the ever-rising costs and need for the paramedic service in UCLG. We thank the Ministry of Health and our MPP Steve Clark for their commitment to paramedic service in our county and across the province,” said Smith-Gatcke. “The additional funds for ambulance offload nursing is also a critical part to support our paramedics getting patients into care and back on the road as quickly as possible.”
The province is also providing the United Counties with $195,000 through its Dedicated Offload Nurses Program.
The program funds nurses and other eligible health-care professionals who help transfer patients arriving by ambulance into hospital emergency departments. The goal is to reduce the amount of time paramedics spend waiting at hospitals so crews can return to responding to 911 calls.
The province says ambulance offload times across Ontario have fallen by approximately 68 per cent since reaching a peak in October 2022.