Extended Health Benefits: From Workplace Perk to Essential Healthcare

Extended health benefits (EHBs) were once considered a workplace perk, but today, this significantly understates their necessity. For millions of working people and their families in Ontario, employer-sponsored EHB plans have become the access point to medically necessary physiotherapy care. Participation in rehabilitation after an injury, surgery, or accident is now often dependent on the amount of workplace-sponsored insurance coverage an individual has access to. EHBs, therefore, have become an essential part of Ontario’s healthcare system.

Benefits Fill Gaps (Partially)

The provincial government funds healthcare, but it is neither sufficient nor comprehensive enough to meet the needs of those living in Ontario. Physiotherapy care is critical for recovery from illness and injury, and yet public funding is extremely limited, with most working adults not qualifying, EHBs are now filling some of these significant health system gaps.

This reality is putting employers in a position where they are increasingly funding access to essential health services for their employees. However, for many individuals, the physiotherapy coverage provided through insurance plans is not sufficient to meet their health needs, forcing them to access other, and more costly, parts of the health care system. If reducing pressure on emergency departments and family physicians remains a health-system priority for the Government of Ontario, improved access to physiotherapy in the community is a necessity. There is a growing need for new conversations about access to care across the public system, employers and insurance providers.

Not Enough EHB Physiotherapy Coverage

For more than 30 million Canadians, physiotherapy is primarily accessed through EHBs. Most injuries and health conditions require significantly more physiotherapy care than benefit plans cover. Coverage often runs out before full recovery is achieved, forcing people to pay out-of-pocket, end treatment early, or go without necessary care. Recovery is not complete when a person’s benefits run out; it is complete when an individual can return to work, family life, and the activities that matter to them most. Function and mobility are vital signs that matter.

Increase Physiotherapy Coverage, Keep Employees Healthy

Musculoskeletal conditions remain one of the leading causes of disability and lost productivity in Ontario. Timely access to physiotherapy can help:

restore function

reduce pain

reduce medication use or reliance

and support a safe return to work

Physiotherapy matters to both workers and employers:

For workers, it supports health, independence, and earning potential.

For employers, it helps retain experienced staff and maintain productivity.

For many workers, access to physiotherapy care is solely dependent on an EHB package, Consider a skilled trades worker with persistent low back pain. Without access to sufficient physiotherapy care, that worker may struggle to remain on the job, requiring modified duties, extended leave, or more costly medical interventions. Keeping employees healthy and on the job simply makes sense.

EHB Plans Need More Flexibility and Increased Limits

Physiotherapists are rehabilitation experts; they are trained to assess and monitor rehabilitation care required for the recovery of musculoskeletal injuries and impairments. The challenge is that patients often reach the limits of EHBs coverage before reaching the end of their treatment plan. Ontario’s public healthcare system has increasingly come to rely on employer-sponsored plans to fund rehabilitation care, even though workplace plans were never designed to serve as a substitute for public health care. As a result, access to physiotherapy and therefore, health outcomes, can vary significantly depending on where someone works, whether they have EHBs, and how generous their coverage is. There is a clear need for employers to fully understand and assess EHB plans and whether they meet the needs of their workforce. But this is not the full story.

Not Enough Government Funded Physiotherapy Coverage

Government funding for rehabilitation, chronic disease management, and other community-based health services has become increasingly limited. Employers are now considering how to fill the gaps for their employees. However, this means that access to physiotherapy now depends on employment status, collective agreements, and insurance plan design rather than clinical need. This is a clear health equity and access concern.

End the Private/ Public Silos – Let’s Plan Together

The Ontario government funds healthcare through tax revenues, while employers (and employees) finance private healthcare access through extended health benefits. Yet these systems largely operate in silos. Employers, government, and clinicians rarely work together to determine how best to improve care for people across Ontario.

It is time for government, employers, and clinicians to come together to identify gaps in care, clarify responsibilities, and build a coordinated approach that better serves people across Ontario.

Advocating for Changes

The Government of Ontario needs to consider both the upstream and downstream impacts of limited access to physiotherapy care. There must be a reliable pathway for all people in Ontario to access essential physiotherapy following injuries, surgeries, and accidents, including collaboration with employers and insurers to ensure benefit structures reflect the true timelines of recovery. If the Government of Ontario continues to under-invest in physiotherapy, emergency departments and family physicians will remain overrun with patients seeking care for musculoskeletal injuries and impairments. Access to physiotherapy should depend on clinical need, not on whether a person has the good fortune to have EHBs. This is an equity issue which can’t be ignored.

Take Action! Complete Our Survey by November 9

OPA is exploring current trends in extended health benefits usage through private practice physiotherapy clinics in Ontario, and how these trends impact physiotherapy care and patient recovery.

This survey is for physiotherapists whose patients access care using Extended Health Benefits. It should take approximately 8-10 minutes to complete. Thank you in advance for your contribution.

Complete survey

Elevate 2026: Shaping the Future of Physiotherapy in Ontario

OPA Leaders and Stakeholders Come Together to Imagine What’s Next

On October 3, 2026, the Ontario Physiotherapy Association (OPA) hosted a first of its kind event. ‘Elevate’ was designed specifically for OPA members who have contributed their time and expertise to the work of the Association. This included current and past members of the Board of Directors, District executives, Committee members, and those who participated in Working Groups and other OPA initiatives.

OPA developed Elevate to build on the amazing talents and contributions of our engaged members. We built opportunities for networking and collaboration and to gather their insights to help shape the profession’s future. A key question also guided the event:

What role will physiotherapy and OPA play in the future of healthcare?

At a time when technology is transforming every aspect of how care is delivered, OPA challenged attendees to consider the opportunities that lie ahead. How can the Association best support its members and advocate for the future of physiotherapy care?

Keynote Speakers

Healthcare futurist, Zayna Khayat, and physiotherapist, scientist and leader, Laura Desveaux, led attendees to explore how physiotherapy can help shape a healthcare system that is not only more efficient, but more personalized, predictive, and proactive. These discussions will directly link to what OPA focuses on in developing our upcoming strategic plan.

Physiotherapists Uniquely Positioned

One message throughout the day was clear: healthcare is approaching a significant inflection point. While today’s healthcare system is largely designed to respond to illness and injury after they occur, emerging technologies are creating opportunities to identify risks earlier, support prevention, and preserve health before more intensive interventions become necessary. Physiotherapists are uniquely positioned within this shift.

The Ontario healthcare system, funding and service delivery models have always focused on “sick” care. We treat injuries after they occur. We intervene after chronic conditions progress. We often only support patients after injury or functional decline has already occurred.

The future model focuses on keeping people healthy, mobile, and independent longer through early intervention, better data, and more personalized care. This is an area where physiotherapists’ strengths align with the direction of healthcare. Speakers highlighted mobility data as an emerging vital sign for assessing and monitoring healthcare needs; an area in which physiotherapists possess unique expertise.

Unlocking the Power of Healthcare Data

Laura Desveaux, Elevate 2026 Keynote Speaker

Keynote speakers challenged attendees to think about the growing role of data and artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. For physiotherapy, the implications are significant. The profession has long championed patient-centered care, recognizing that each individual presents unique goals, circumstances, risks, and needs. Greater use of healthcare data could help clinicians move beyond population normative values and provide even more tailored physiotherapy care based on an individual’s specific situation.

The conversation was not at all about replacing clinicians with technology. Instead, the conversation focused on how technology can enhance clinical expertise and support better decision-making, helping physiotherapists deliver the right care, at the right time, for the right patient.

From Barriers to Possibilities

Sarah Hutchison, OPA CEO presenting at Elevate

Sarah Hutchison, CEO of OPA, led the closing session of the day. She encouraged attendees to temporarily set aside the barriers that often dominate conversations about healthcare innovation. Attendees were challenged to ask different questions, framed with a new perspective from the earlier sessions.

Charlotte Anderson, OPA President Presenting

Charlotte Anderson, President of OPA, assisted in facilitating the afternoon session and immediately saw shifts in perspective that sparked meaningful dialogue across the room. Leaders representing clinical practice, education institutions, health system planning, and professional advocacy chimed in about possibilities that may have seemed out of reach just a few years ago.

Attendees shared their ideas about where OPA should go next. This included focusing on emerging trends in healthcare and on addressing members’ needs and wants.

Looking Ahead

Elevate was more than a discussion about AI, technology, and trends. It was a conversation about physiotherapists as leaders. As healthcare continues to evolve, physiotherapists have an opportunity to shape systems that prioritize prevention, mobility, independence, and better outcomes for patients. The ideas generated during Elevate will inform OPA’s ongoing work to advance the profession, advocate for innovative models of care, and ensure physiotherapists remain influential contributors to Ontario’s healthcare future. Through forums like Elevate, OPA is helping ensure physiotherapists have a voice in defining what comes next.

We Want to Hear from Everyone

If you would like to contribute to OPA’s work, we invite you to complete our Engagement Form. It only takes 3 minutes to complete.

Complete form now

We are stronger together!

It can’t wait: Funding physiotherapy would take real pressure off Ontario’s ERs

Every day in Ontario, people end up in the ER for conditions that a physiotherapist could have treated months earlier.

“Patients are coming to the emergency department every day with pain that should have been managed weeks earlier by a physiotherapist in the community setting,” said Makaila Koshurba, a physiotherapist working in a Toronto-area emergency department.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information’s latest report confirms what Koshurba is describing. Emergency room visits across Canada have climbed to 16.1 million annually, and Ontario is no exception to that trend. CIHI is explicit: the factors driving longer wait times originate outside emergency departments, including a lack of access to primary care and community-based programs.

For the one in three people living in Ontario without private insurance, or for those who cannot afford to pay out of pocket, the public system is the only option.

“Every time I come to ask for treatment on aging issues, I am told that the waiting period is about four to six months,” wrote Joe, one of nearly 2,000 people living in Ontario who have signed our petition. “Treatment is needed right away. Otherwise, the issue becomes more severe,” he added.

Without that access, seniors whose mobility is declining end up in emergency departments rather than community clinics – often for falls and joint pain that community physiotherapy is specifically designed to prevent.

CPCs Prevent an Estimated 70,000 ER Visits

Ontario has the infrastructure to address this. The Community Physiotherapy Clinic Program operates through over 200 clinics across the province, preventing an estimated 70,000 emergency department visits in Ontario annually. Each dollar invested saves four dollars in downstream health care costs, reducing falls, surgeries, specialist consultations and visits to primary care.

The program hasn’t kept pace. According to OPA’s analysis of Ministry of Health data, since 2013 Ontario’s senior population has grown by 45 per cent, the cost of living has risen by more than 40 per cent, yet referral capacity has grown by just 14 per cent. Clinics that are paid a fixed lump sum regardless of how many sessions they provide are capping services and shifting toward private clients. In some communities, when a clinic exhausts its funded referrals, the nearest alternative is hours away.

Expand Access to Community Physiotherapy

One solution to the pressure on Ontario’s ERs already aligns with commitments this government has made: no hallway medicine, aging at home, and connected care for all. Expanding access to community physiotherapy is not a new direction. It is the most direct path to delivering on the ones already announced. Ontario’s primary care strategy is also expanding team-based care, but physiotherapists are rarely part of those teams – a gap that compounds the pressure on emergency departments every day.

The evidence is clear, the infrastructure exists, and the return on investment is proven. Physiotherapists across Ontario are ready to keep people out of emergency departments. What’s needed is specific: fund the 195,000 referrals people living in Ontario require, not the 140,000 the current model covers. The program that prevents 70,000 ER visits a year cannot be allowed to collapse for want of investment. Patients like Joe cannot wait months for conditions that will only get worse. Neither can the hospitals treating them.

Sarah Hutchison, OPA's Chief Executive Officer

Sarah Hutchison, MHSc., LL.M, ICD.D

Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Physiotherapy Association

Sign OPA’s Petition

A Reimbursement Framework Frozen in 2014

An Open Letter to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) and the Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance

We recognize the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario’s (FSRA) role as the regulator of Ontario’s automobile insurance system and its responsibility for overseeing insurers, health service providers, and the delivery of care to injured persons. As the regulator responsible for maintaining a fair, effective, and sustainable automobile insurance framework, we believe FSRA has not fulfilled its responsibility to ensure that reimbursement under the Professional Services Guideline (PSG) reflects the realities of delivering regulated health care in Ontario.

Physiotherapist Reimbursement Rates Unchanged Since 2014

While physiotherapist reimbursement rates under the Professional Services Guideline have remained unchanged since 2014, Ontario’s five largest automobile insurance groups received approved premium increases averaging approximately 42% between 2018 and 2026, with total company-specific increases ranging from approximately 35% to more than 60%.¹ At the same time, the 2016 automobile insurance reforms substantially reduced accident benefit coverage, including lowering medical and rehabilitation funding limits from $2 million to $1 million for catastrophic impairments and from $100,000 to $65,000 for non-catastrophic injuries. As a result of premium increases, stagnant reimbursement rates, and reduced funding, people in Ontario are paying significantly more for less, and physiotherapists are stretched thin as they work to provide high-quality care with outdated funding.

Report Shows Increasing Disparity Between Cost of Care and PSG Reimbursement Rate

The disconnect between reimbursement and the actual cost of care has become increasingly pronounced. The Ontario Physiotherapy Association’s 2026 Ontario Physiotherapy Market Fee Report found that the average fee for a 60-minute physiotherapy assessment or treatment in Ontario is $148.00.² By comparison, the Professional Services Guideline continues to reimburse a maximum of $99.75 per hour for non-catastrophic impairments and $119.92 per hour for catastrophic impairments; rates established in 2014 and never updated.

Physiotherapists are expected to deliver high-quality, evidence-informed care within a funding model that no longer reflects the realities of operating a modern health care practice. Clinics are paying 2026 wages, rent, professional liability insurance, technology costs, regulatory expenses, and increasing administrative costs while reimbursement remains at 2014 levels. There is a limit to how long providers can be expected to do more with less.

Access to Care Challenges Increases Health System Burden

As financial pressures continue to mount, physiotherapists are increasingly challenged to participate in Ontario’s automobile insurance system, making access to care more difficult for injured people living in Ontario. Restricting rehabilitation funding does not reduce overall costs, it simply shifts those costs elsewhere in the health care system. Injured individuals may require additional visits to family physicians, walk-in clinics, emergency departments, and other publicly funded services to manage conditions that could have been addressed through timely access to physiotherapy. Delayed recovery may also contribute to longer periods away from work, prolonged disability, increased reliance on public and private supports, and poorer quality of life.

For more than two decades, Ontario’s automobile insurance reforms have increasingly relied on reducing rehabilitation funding through benefit caps and constrained reimbursement. After years of these policies, it is reasonable to ask whether they have achieved their intended objectives. Have they improved recovery outcomes? Reduced long-term disability? Shortened time away from work? Reduced litigation? Lowered insurance premiums for people living in Ontario? These are fundamental public policy questions that deserve transparent evaluation.

Ontario’s automobile insurance system should prioritize timely access to rehabilitation because evidence consistently demonstrates that early intervention improves recovery, supports return to work, and reduces the long-term impact of injury. Instead, the current reimbursement framework is moving in the opposite direction. It is time to bring physiotherapy reimbursement in line with today’s economic realities and with comparable standards across Canada.

The Ontario Physiotherapy Association calls on FSRA and the Ministry of Finance to:

Increase physiotherapist reimbursement rates under the Professional Services Guideline to reflect the actual cost of delivering care;

Establish a transparent and predictable process for regularly reviewing and updating reimbursement rates so they keep pace with inflation and economic conditions; and

Publicly release the outcome of FSRA’s review of the Professional Services Guideline and implement its recommendations without further delay.

Restore Fair and Sustainable Reimbursement Rates in PSG

Ontario’s physiotherapists remain committed to helping injured people recover, return to work, and resume their daily lives following injury. However, a sustainable rehabilitation system requires reimbursement that reflects the cost of delivering evidence-informed care.

Ontario’s automobile insurance system should not ask injured people to accept reduced benefits, providers to absorb rising costs, and consumers to pay higher premiums. Updating the Professional Services Guideline is an essential step toward restoring a fair, sustainable, and effective accident benefits system. A reimbursement framework frozen in 2014 cannot meet the needs of Ontario in 2026.

Help us Advocate. Take Action Today.

There are two ways you can help us advocate for fairer reimbursement rates for physiotherapists:

Sign OPA’s petition.

Write to Mr. Glen Padassery, Executive Vice President, Policy and Auto/Insurance Products, FSRA, and Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance. Simply read the letter on our website, add your name and email, and press send.

Footnotes

Unweighted average of approved premium increase calculated across Ontario’s five largest automobile insurance groups (Intact, Aviva, TD Insurance, Desjardins, and Co-operators) and their subsidiaries using approved Ontario private passenger automobile insurance rate filings from 2018–2026. https://autorateapprovals.fsrao.ca/
Ontario Physiotherapy Association. Ontario Physiotherapy Compensation and Fee Report: 2026. Ontario Physiotherapy Association, April 9, 2026.

Another Successful Donate Your Kicks Campaign!

The OPA Windsor District extends a huge thank you to everyone across Windsor-Essex who participated in the 2026 Donate Your Kicks Campaign! Held throughout the month of May in celebration of National Physiotherapy Month, the shoe drive was organized by Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH) and the Windsor District of OPA to help stock the HDGH Clothing Closet, giving patients access to footwear and clothing they may need.

The campaign’s goal is simple but meaningful: a good pair of shoes can make all the difference in a patient’s recovery. Without proper footwear, mobility and rehabilitation can be significantly harder to achieve. Thanks to the generosity of staff, students, volunteers, and the wider community, patients throughout the rehab hospital now have greater access to the shoes they need to get moving again.

This year’s campaign wouldn’t have been possible without the support of several community partners who set up their own collection boxes, including:

The Running Factory (Manager Kristy Ireland)

Riverside Physiotherapy (Troy Sajatovich, PT, and staff)

Loaring Physiotherapy (Wesley Bellemore, PT, and staff)

Leap Physiotherapy (Alex Graham, PT, and staff)

Willow Health Centre, Chatham (Tegan Vermey, PT, and staff)

Erie Shores and Rehabilitation, Kingsville (Roberta Weston, PT, and staff)

Erie Shores and Rehabilitation Kingsville

Tecumseh Physiotherapy (Danese Tezer and Sarah Primeau, PTs, and staff)

A special thank you was also extended to HDGH Rehab 4 volunteer Simona Brezeanu, who generously gave up her own time to clean, sort, and organize more than 200 pairs of donated shoes! Her dedication and hard work behind the scenes made a huge difference in getting these donations ready for patients in need.

The OPA Windsor District thanks everyone who donated, collected, and volunteered to make this year’s campaign such a success, and looks forward to bringing the Donate Your Kicks Campaign back again next year!

Member Spotlight: An Internationally Educated Physiotherapist’s Journey from India to Ontario

Foundations: A Journey of Resilience, Leadership, & Advocacy

Venkata Patnala, Physiotherapist and Member Spotlight with Ontario Physiotherapy Association

Venkata Patnala’s path in physiotherapy was born in India. A personal experience emphasized the importance of clinical vigilance and served as the foundation of his journey into the medical field.

After pausing his formal education for several years due to family responsibilities, he immersed himself in hands-on healthcare. He worked in a rural pharmacy setting and assisted in hospital as a medical assistant and surgical assistant, eventually helping establish a community first-aid service at just 18. Alongside this, he demonstrated early leadership by founding a private school and managing a team of tutors while completing his secondary education.

Venkata Patnala as a First aid medical practitioner in 1998 — Venkata Patnala providing community first-aid services in rural India in 1998

Venkata went on to earn his Bachelor of Physiotherapy in 2005, overcoming the challenge of transitioning to an English-language curriculum. As a student, he founded the Samaikya Andhra Physiotherapy Students Association and took on a leadership role advocating for peers. He later established and expanded multiple clinics in India while continuing his education, completing a Diploma in Pharmacy and a Master’s in Orthopedics and Trauma.

Continuous Learning Across Borders

In 2013, Venkata brought his combined experience in clinical care and leadership to Canada. Since becoming a Registered Physiotherapist in Ontario in 2014, he has remained focused on integrating strong clinical reasoning with compassionate, patient-centered care.

Over the years, he has pursued advanced training in Orthopedic Manual Therapy (COMPT), the McKenzie Method (Cert. MDT), Gunn Intramuscular Stimulation through the University of British Columbia, and medical acupuncture through McMaster University.

As his experience deepened, so did his clinical focus. He became increasingly drawn to the complexities of spinal conditions, particularly scoliosis and kyphosis. This led him to complete certification in the BSPTS-Schroth method and to pursue further advanced training through the Italian Scientific Spine Institute (ISICO). Through this work, he developed a more nuanced understanding of how posture, movement patterns, and structural changes interact over time.

The Connected System: From Spine to Foot

While treating patients with spinal conditions, Venkata began to notice a recurring pattern. Some issues that appeared to originate in the spine were influenced by factors elsewhere in the body.

“I started noticing that certain spinal problems were not just coming from the spine,” he says.“They were sometimes influenced by movement patterns and biomechanical factors originating at the foot and lower limb.”

This observation led him to explore the relationship between spinal alignment and foot biomechanics more deeply. To strengthen this connection in his practice, he is pursuing formal education in chiropody at The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. By combining these areas of expertise, Venkata has developed a more integrated approach to care. Rather than treating isolated symptoms, he looks at how different parts of the body interact and contribute to overall function.

Clinical Vigilance and Mentorship

Over the course of his 20-year career, Venkata has come to value clinical judgment as one of the most important skills in physiotherapy. He recalls instances where patients presented with what seemed like routine musculoskeletal concerns, but further assessment revealed the need for medical referral.

“It’s not just about treating. It’s about knowing when something does not fit the usual pattern and taking a closer look,” he explains. This mindset continues to shape his daily practice. It also informs the way he mentors students and colleagues, encouraging careful assessment, critical thinking, and a strong focus on patient safety.

Building Community

Venkata’s contributions extend beyond his clinical work. As the founder and first president of the Halton Telugu Association, he has helped create a space for Telugu families to connect and support one another across the region. “Moving to a new country comes with challenges that go beyond work,” he says. “There is also the cultural adjustment and the need to feel connected.” Through this initiative, he supports families, mentors younger members of the community, and helps preserve cultural traditions within Canada’s diverse social landscape.

“For me, it is about creating a sense of belonging,” he adds. “In healthcare and in life, connection and support make a real difference.”

Supporting the Global Community of Care

Reflecting on his own journey, Venkata sees the transition to Canada as more than just a licensing process; it is an opportunity to build meaningful connections and community.

“For internationally educated physiotherapists (IEPTs), my advice is to stay patient, open, and engaged,” Venkata says. “Seek mentorship early but also be willing to share your own experiences. Your clinical background is not something to set aside, it is something to build upon.” He emphasizes that joining professional associations and local cultural groups can create a dual support system that provides both clinical guidance and a sense of belonging.

For Canadian-trained clinicians and leaders, Venkata highlights the value of active inclusion. “Internationally educated physiotherapists often bring a wide range of clinical exposure from diverse, high-volume settings. Recognizing and integrating these perspectives strengthens our teams and enhances the care we provide.”

“When we create environments where people feel valued and supported, everyone benefits,” he adds. “It not only helps clinicians grow but also allows us to better serve the diverse communities of Ontario. Ultimately, it is our patients who benefit the most from that collaboration.”

Looking Ahead

Today, Venkata continues to grow as a clinician, educator, and community leader. His work reflects an integrated perspective that brings together advanced physiotherapy, specialized scoliosis care, and foot biomechanics. He remains committed to learning and to refining his approach with each patient he sees.

“Every patient teaches you something,” he says. “That is what keeps the work meaningful and keeps you moving forward.”

Are You our Next Member Spotlight?

Do you want to be featured? Are you in an innovative role? Spoken about physiotherapy in a podcast or the news? Published an article? Or represented the physiotherapy profession through advocacy?

We want to celebrate you as a physiotherapist, PT or PTA student or PTA!

Submit your story

Ontario Doctor Sounds the Alarm: Cutting Publicly Funded Physiotherapy Will Cost Us Far More

A Toronto family physician is calling out the Ford government’s decision to freeze publicly funded physiotherapy. The numbers behind her argument are hard to ignore.

Dr. Iris Garfinkel Toronto doctor warns of physiotherapy cuts

Dr. Iris Gorfinkel

Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a family physician and clinical researcher, recently published an op-ed in the Toronto Star describing the real-world consequences she sees daily in her practice. “I typically see three patients a day who require rehab,” she writes. “Most don’t want medications. They want to get better.” What they need, she explains, is supervised exercise, but what she can prescribe, without limit, is drugs.

Read Toronto Star op-ed (open to Toronto Star subscribers only)

A System Built on Underfunding

The Ontario Physiotherapy Association (OPA) has long raised concerns about chronic underfunding of the Community Physiotherapy Clinic (CPC) Program; a program that provides publicly funded physiotherapy to primarily seniors and youth. The gap between need and funding has been growing for decades, and it’s getting worse. Since 2013, Ontario’s senior population has grown by 940,000. In that same period, available CPC referrals grew by only 17,000. Operating costs for program delivery have risen 40%, while program funding has increased by a mere $20 in 13 years. While clinics deliver on average 6.2 visits per patient referred, the funding of $334 only covers about 3 of those visits, forcing them to operate at a loss.

The Ford government’s latest move freezes clinic funding at zero growth for the next two years. Ontario needs funding to serve 195,000 referrals annually to this program to align with the growing senior population. Current funding will cover only 140,000.

The Math Is Clear

What makes this freeze especially difficult to justify is the return on investment. Every $1 invested in the CPC Program saves the government $4 in other healthcare costs. The program prevents an estimated 70,000 emergency department visits every year, while also reducing hospital admissions, diagnostic imaging, surgeries, and specialist consultations.

Defunding physiotherapy doesn’t eliminate the need for care. It shifts the cost to much more costly care – emergency rooms, operating rooms, and long-term care – and access to physiotherapy is still needed.

Real Patients, Real Consequences

Dr. Gorfinkel describes one of her patients: a 72-year-old grandmother in tears, her knee failing her, who had already waited six weeks on a physiotherapy waitlist. “She could have fractured her hip,” Gorfinkel writes. Falls and fractures are among the most costly and preventable outcomes in senior care, and timely physiotherapy is one of the most effective tools we have to prevent them.

Research backs this up. A landmark Sunnybrook study following nearly 900 colon cancer patients found that those in a supervised exercise program were more likely to remain disease-free eight years later and cost $1,600 less per patient than those who received educational materials alone. Exercise and rehabilitation aren’t optional. They are evidence-based medicines.

The Downstream Risk

OPA has also flagged that underfunding the CPC Program impacts other publicly funded programs, including the Bundled Care Program for hip and knee replacements. When the government underinvests in rehabilitation, it signals that access to physiotherapy is optional, while simultaneously pushing greater demand onto already-strained parts of the healthcare system.

Several physiotherapy clinics across Ontario have decided that they can no longer afford to deliver care through this program. And many more have signaled their planned departure from the program, if the funding does not increase to meet their operational costs. Each departure from the program means one fewer physiotherapist available to people in Ontario who rely on publicly funded services; leaving many with no access.

What Needs to Change

The fix is evident:

1. Eliminate the cap of 142,000 patient referrals and fund the access that people in Ontario actually need.

2. Raise the per-patient rate to account for increasing operating costs, and ensure people in Ontario continue to have access to essential physiotherapy services.

As Dr. Gorfinkel states: “When my patient is left to cry because she can’t get rehab without her credit card, the real sickness isn’t arthritis; it’s political neglect.”

The evidence hasn’t changed. The question is whether Ontario’s government is willing to act on it.

Charlotte Anderson, OPA’s President Message, June 2026

Watch Charlotte Anderson, OPA’s President, share highlights after the first meeting of the 2026–2027 Board of Directors.

She speaks to OPA’s ongoing CPC advocacy, the What’s Next campaign featuring PTs and patients from across the province and work the Association is doing regarding recent scope of practice changes. You can reach Charlotte at president@opa.on.ca.

Introducing OPA’s 2026-2027 Board of Directors

2026-2027 OPA Board of Directors (From L to R: Courtney Bean, Charlotte Anderson, Jennifer Howey, Kyle Whaley, Terry Wang, Anthony Grande, Carrie Lau, Wing Ting Truong, David Egbert

Charlotte is joined on the 2026-2027 Board by Courtney Bean, David Egbert, Anthony Grande, Jennifer Howey, Carrie Lau, Wing Ting Truong, Terry Wang and Kyle Whaley. The Board met on Saturday, June 6, to continue the work of the Association on behalf of Ontario’s physiotherapy community.

Learn more about the Board

OPA Launches “What’s Next for Physiotherapy?”

What's Next for PT marketing campaign participants

This June, OPA launched an ambitious province-wide campaign. It is designed to channel a defining moment in Ontario physiotherapy into a long-term conversation about the future of the profession, patient care, and healthcare in Ontario.

The goal is to reach physiotherapists across every region, practice area, and career stage in Ontario, grow awareness of what the profession can and should be, and establish OPA as the place where that conversation happens.

The campaign isn’t about OPA speaking to physiotherapists. It’s about physiotherapists speaking to physiotherapists.

Why This Campaign Matters

Ontario’s healthcare system is under mounting pressure: demand for care is growing, the population is aging, and delivery models are evolving faster than ever. Physiotherapists are already at the front lines of that shift, reducing unnecessary ER visits, supporting earlier interventions, and improving access to care across the province. With expanded scope now underway, the question is no longer whether physiotherapists can do more. It’s what comes next, and how the profession will help shape it.

The campaign’s approach is as deliberate as its message. What’s Next was built around short videos featuring real physiotherapists and patients speaking in their own voices, grounded in lived clinical experience. They share views on where Ontario’s healthcare is headed. Audiences trust people more than corporate messages, and social platforms reward that authenticity. OPA leaned into that reality fully.

What This Means for the Profession – and For You

This campaign speaks to every practice area of the profession. Whether you work in private practice, a hospital, or a community health setting, it validates the work you do every day. It makes the case, publicly, for the expanded role physiotherapists are already fulfilling. It connects individual challenges around access and funding to a system-wide argument: physiotherapy isn’t a complement to Ontario’s healthcare system. It’s a cornerstone of its future.

The What’s Next campaign is a direct expression of what OPA does: advocate for the profession and ensure physiotherapists have a seat at the table when decisions about Ontario’s healthcare are made. That work happens because members across the province choose to invest in it collectively, and this campaign gives every one of them something to rally behind.

Join the Conversation

The campaign is now live. Watch the videos, explore the patient stories, and join OPA if you’re not already a member, so you can be part of shaping what comes next.

Explore the campaign

Not yet an OPA member?

An OPA membership supports advocacy, connects you with peers across the province, and gives you industry-leading insurance coverage, all while ensuring your profession speaks with one powerful voice.

The future of physiotherapy in Ontario is already taking shape. Be a part of it.

Learn more about membership

National Physiotherapy Month Excitement!

Every year, the Ontario Physiotherapy Association highlights the experiences of its members and the impact they make with their clients and in their communities.

National Physiotherapy Month takes place in May and members in 2026 could participate in two ways:

Tagging OPA with both #npm2026 and #wearept so that we could share their post.

Submitting their pictures for OPA to publish on our communications platforms.

We were pleased to see how the physiotherapy community got involved!

Check out a few of those who tagged us or submitted directly:

Waterdown Physiotherapy Celebrating National Physiotherapy Month

Natasha Weber, Physiotherapist with client for National Physiotherapy Month — Natasha Weber, Physiotherapist

Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic Celebrating National Physiotherapy Month

Thank You from OPA Staff!

Ontario Physiotherapy Association staff thank you for celebration national physiotherapy month 2026

OPA Contest

Every OPA member who tagged OPA or submitted their picture and information was automatically entered into the $100 gift card draw.

Congratulations to Fowler Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic who won the draw!