Only about 34 per cent of Canadians eligible for the Registered Disability Savings Plan have opened one, a 2024 Statistics Canada investigation found, versus roughly 68 per cent uptake for TFSAs and RRSPs. The plan offers up to $70,000 in federal grants and $20,000 in bonds, but take-up is held back by low awareness, few providers, and a 16-page clinician questionnaire needed to qualify for the Disability Tax Credit.
Frontline workers may be the first to tell eligible clients about a plan worth up to $90,000 in federal help that most never hear about.
A fatality inquiry heard that Prashant Sreekumar, 44, died on Dec. 22, 2025 after waiting about eight hours in the Grey Nuns emergency department in Edmonton for chest pain. A doctor testified the hospital's five general medicine units have run above capacity since at least 2024, with occupancy around 101 per cent in 2025, and that 20 to 30 per cent of beds hold patients who no longer need hospital care. The inquiry resumes in December.
The testimony puts numbers to ER overcrowding: more patients than beds, and a fifth to a third of beds taken by patients awaiting placement elsewhere.
More than 300,000 British Columbians live with long COVID, and the province's virtual-care clinic serves over 8,500 patients. From Nov. 1, virtual group appointments will be capped at 30 patients, down from groups of up to 50, and the per-patient fee falls from $14.71 to $11.42. The clinic says allied health will no longer be available in virtual group settings and patients should expect longer waits; the changes were signed off by the Medical Services Commission on Sept. 24.
The changes land Nov. 1 on a clinic that is the main virtual-care route for thousands of long COVID patients across B.C.
A new national target aims to limit antipsychotic use in long-term care residents without psychosis to 15%. Current Canadian rates sit at 24%, prompting calls for cross-sectoral collaboration to improve prescribing, monitoring, and deprescribing practices across acute, community, and long-term care settings.
Expect increased focus on reviewing antipsychotic prescriptions and improving care transitions to meet this new national safety benchmark.
Philips has issued a notice regarding Azurion 7 systems that may contain unauthorized solid-state drives. These incorrect components could lead to system failures, including the loss of imaging capabilities, motorized movement issues, or the inability to access and store patient data.
If you use an Azurion 7 system, be aware that unauthorized drives may cause sudden equipment failure or loss of patient data.
Abbott has issued a recall for specific lots of i-STAT hs-TnI cartridges due to manufacturing variability. These cartridges may produce falsely elevated cardiac troponin I results because of reduced interference mitigation. There is no evidence of falsely low test results.
Check your i-STAT hs-TnI cartridge lots against the recall list and stop using any affected units immediately.
Sabrina Apitz-Grossman, 31, was told she has 12 to 18 months to live with synovial sarcoma that spread to her lungs; her doctors recommend Tecelra, a US-approved treatment costing $727,000 US, but OHIP denied out-of-country coverage and her appeal and case-by-case application both failed. After a court ordered coverage for another patient in July, Ontario changed the rules so out-of-country drug treatments are funded only if already funded in the province and temporarily unavailable.
The rule change closes the route other patients used to get life-extending treatment abroad when Ontario does not fund it.
Federal, provincial, and territorial health ministers met in Winnipeg on October 16, 2026, to discuss healthcare system reforms. Key priorities included improving workforce mobility for internationally educated professionals, advancing national public health data sharing, and ensuring the sustainability of long-term funding for rare disease treatments and community care services.
Guelph psychotherapist Marinela Trickett has launched a petition asking Ontario to cover long-term supportive psychotherapy under OHIP, saying her clinic gets daily calls from people who cannot access long-term support and many wait until crisis, then go to hospitals where their needs are not met. With Guelph MPP Mike Schreiner she will bring the petition, aiming for 5,000 signatures, to Queen's Park in November. OHIP now covers psychotherapy only from a doctor or psychiatrist; private sessions average $150 to $180 each.
It asks Ontario to treat psychotherapy as medically necessary care, not a private expense, a question frontline workers hear from patients every day.
The author argues that expanding emergency departments to address overcrowding often fails if inpatient bottlenecks remain. Citing studies and national data, the piece suggests that increasing ED capacity without improving patient flow can worsen boarding times and strain nursing resources. Governments are urged to prioritize flow management and bed availability over physical facility expansion.
The federal government has extended health funding for mental health, addictions, home care, and community services by one year. This extension aligns with existing long-term care agreements and provides a new timeline for governments to discuss long-term funding formulas.
