Advocating for Greater Sustainability in the CPC Program

About the Community Physiotherapy Clinic (CPC) Program  

The CPC Program provides access to vital physiotherapy services throughout Ontario. Launched in 2013, the CPC Program has provided almost 10 million treatments. It successfully complements diverse primary care, home care, integration, and care-continuity government priorities.  

Certain criteria apply for those who can seek treatment at a CPC. This includes seniors (65 and over), youth (under 19), people who have had an overnight hospital stay, or an outpatient/day surgery procedure and recipients of ODSP. 

The CPC Program runs out of both hospital and community clinics across Ontario. Providers hold a Transfer Payment Agreement (TPA) with the Ministry of Health (MoH). The TPA is expected to be renewed in April 2026.  

Program providers are allocated a certain number of Episodes of Care (EOCs) each year. The current EOC payment amount is $334.38  

CPC Working Group Launched 

OPA struck a CPC Working Group in 2025 to help prepare for the forthcoming Transfer Payment Agreement (TPA) renewal in April 2026. The TPA is a binding contract between the Ministry of Health and an external recipient such as a license holder of a Community Physiotherapy Clinic to fund public services. The TPA determines the conditions under which providers are compensated by the Government of Ontario. 

What Are the Issues 

Over successive consultations, OPA members have raised concerns about the CPC Program and its sustainability. Program participants, especially those based in the community, speak to growing challenges in the Program’s delivery and broader misunderstandings among system stakeholders. 

Challenges include low compensation, too few EOCs to meet population needs, lack of transparency about the program’s allocation of EOCs and misunderstanding of the program’s goals among stakeholders. 

CPC Program Users and EOCs 

Seniors are the most frequent users of the Community Physiotherapy Clinic program. More than 80% of EOCs are utilized by individuals 65 and older. 

Investments in EOCs, which promote early upstream access to care in the community, mean a decreased need for much more expensive institutional care. OPA is advocating for an increase in the number of EOCs to effectively address the growing health needs of seniors in Ontario. See the chart below. 

CPC Survey Results 

OPA launched a survey in November 2025 directed to CPC Program TPA holders. The survey highlights four themes that emerged from the respondents: 

1. EOC Compensation 

2. EOC Volume 

3. CPC Program allocation and service transparency 

4. CPC Program awareness among system stakeholders 

Recommendations to the Ministry of Health (MoH) 

OPA completed additional research which supported survey respondents’ concerns and interests. Survey results were discussed with the MoH in December 2025. In January 2026, a meeting summary was sent to the MoH with the following recommendations:  

1. EOC Payment: Increasing the rate from $334.38 to a range between $487.50 to $617.50 based on an average of 6.5 treatment sessions per EOC.  

2. EOC Volume: Increasing the total volume of EOCs to 195,000 per year from 142,000 per year.  

3. Improving CPC Program Activity Communication: Developing a report on EOC allocation and utilization, diagnostic codes, and Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROM) data.  

4. Improving CPC Program Awareness among Stakeholders: Co-developing a visual aide for system stakeholders to clarify the CPC Program’s purpose, use, and criteria.  

Among these four recommendations, EOC payment increases are the most critical part of the TPA. Increasing EOC volume alone requires clinics to provide more units of care that must be subsidized by other programs, such as WSIB or private insurance. 

Recent Meeting with the MoH 

OPA met with the MoH and CPC survey respondents on February 11, 2026, to share survey results and explore concerns raised by CPC providers. The MoH appreciated the program feedback and survey results and has committed to providing bi-weekly feedback with the proposals OPA made.   

What’s Next 

OPA will continue to communicate with CPC Program providers and advocate with the Ministry of Health prior to the TPA renewal in April 2026.