Workers in Ontario's community health sector, which includes community social workers in the non-profit sector, should be given wage hikes, according to the new Ontario Community Health Compensation study, based on information provided by 10 provincial associations.
The community sector is more than $2 billion behind on wages, compared to their peers doing similar work in hospitals and other sectors, said the study. This is despite the fact that community health care requires a specialized skillset due to highly complex patients often facing multiple severe and chronic conditions, often 24/7 service delivery responsibilities and obligations, and limited resources relative to hospitals.
The report was authored by Eckler Ltd., a national actuarial consulting service based in Toronto.
The 91-page study looked at the compensation for workers in the community health workforce, which encompasses a range of essential health care roles, including nurses in primary care, addiction and social workers in mental health organizations, and personal support workers in home and community care, long-term care among others.
Similar to the findings in the year-end report by the Ontario Auditor General released last week, this new study found that many workers are leaving the community health sector to find jobs in other fields or in other provinces or countries "making it increasingly challenging to recruit and retain essential health workers," said the study.
The Eckler study also revealed the wage increases for the community health sector seemed to stall during the pandemic in the years of 2020 to 2023. The study said one of the reasons might have been Ontario Bill 124, which capped public sector wages at one per cent for a three-year period.
The study also said research based on a survey of more than 1,300 community health agencies revealed that 94 per cent of respondents identified compensation as the single most significant challenge for recruitment and retention.
The study said the consequences of lower pay could be significant.
"While the government has committed to strengthening the community health sector, the growing wage gap threatens the system's ability to deliver the community services Ontarians need, including primary care, home care, mental health and addictions care, and long-term care," said the study.
"Without action, the foundation of our health-care system is at risk, with the potential to see diminished access to essential services in the community, increased strain on already overburdened hospitals and emergency departments, elevated health care costs, and care that is too hard and slow to access for millions of individuals and their families.”
The survey was carried out across Ontario, including in Sudbury, which accounted for roughly 10 per cent of the total number of respondents, said the study.
