Ontario’s hospital nurses have been awarded a 5.25 per cent wage increase over two years in a new contract determined by an arbitrator, but their union says the ruling falls short by failing to address staffing shortages.
The decision affects roughly 60,000 hospital nurses across the province. While the pay hike offers some relief, the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) says the absence of minimum staffing ratios is deeply disappointing. ONA provincial president Erin Ariss argued that the ruling sends the wrong message to nurses, suggesting they do not deserve the same safety-in-numbers protections provided to other front-line workers in high-risk professions.
The union says it is reviewing the decision and weighing its next steps. Hospitals, for their part, had opposed staffing ratios, arguing they were too rigid and failed to account for the contributions of other health professionals such as registered practical nurses.
In the ruling, the arbitrator noted that mechanisms already exist for nurses to raise workload and staffing concerns, but the union insists that without enforceable ratios, patient care and workplace safety remain at risk.