Wainfleet – The Ontario government’s plan to connect every person in the province to primary care is delivering significant results in Niagara. The Niagara Ontario Health Team – Équipe Santé Ontario Niagara has successfully eliminated its waitlist of patients seeking a primary care provider since before January 1, 2025. The critical milestone means Niagara has met the province’s initial Health Care Connect waitlist clearance target, helping ensure residents who had been waiting the longest for a family doctor or other primary care provider are connected to care.
“Connecting every person in Niagara to primary care is a critical part of our government’s plan to protect Ontario’s health-care system and ensure families can access the care they need, close to home,” said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.
“This is important progress for patients and families across our region. By working together with our local Ontario Health Team, primary care providers and Ontario Health atHome, we are helping connect Niagara residents who have been waiting for primary care while continuing to address new patients seeking a family doctor or primary care provider.”
Clearing the Health Care Connect waitlist is an ongoing process, as residents are continually connected to primary care and removed from the list while other residents who are seeking a provider may be added.
The Niagara Ontario Health Team – Équipe Santé Ontario Niagara continues to work to connect residents across the region who joined Health Care Connect on or after January 1, 2025. As of June 17, 2026, approximately 168 people remained on the list in Niagara, a comparatively small number as the region continues working toward connecting every resident to primary care.
Residents on the Health Care Connect list are supported by a Care Connector at Ontario Health atHome, working in partnership with Niagara Ontario Health Team and the region’s primary care network – the Niagara Practitioners’ Healthcare Alliance – to connect patients with available primary care.
The progress in Niagara is part of Ontario’s broader plan to connect everyone in the province to publicly funded primary care. Through continued investments in primary care teams and health human resources, the province is expanding access to family doctors, nurse practitioners and other health professionals so that more people can receive convenient care in their community.
The Ontario government continues to make historic investments to protect and strengthen the province’s health-care system, adding capacity across the continuum of care and supporting a more connected, people-first system.
Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is continuing to expand access to primary care and other key health services, ensuring people can connect to the right care, in the right place, close to home.