Toronto Paramedic Association

BURNOUT, OTHER PRESSURES LEAD TO HIGH TURNOVER FOR PARAMEDICS IN SUDBURY

Half of primary care paramedics in Sudbury have less than five years of experience and 20 per cent have one year or less, a new report has found, as high attrition rates continue to plague the system.

Staffing challenges are even worse for advanced care paramedics, where, despite heavy recruitment efforts, their numbers have dropped from 64 in 2024 to 57 in 2025, “representing the largest single-year net loss during the period reviewed.”

Departures of advanced care paramedics (ACP) have outpaced new hires since 2020, the report said.

MORE DEPARTURES THAN NEW HIRES

“This imbalance has created operational pressures, including challenges in maintaining emergency response coverage, ensuring timely ACP response to critical calls, accommodating time-off requests, and managing increased overtime,” the report said.

“The growing reliance on a smaller cohort of ACPs has contributed to increased burnout and declining morale, further influencing decisions to seek employment elsewhere.”

Most of the ACPs that have left Sudbury recently took new jobs with Ornge, the report said, where pay levels are higher.

“Ornge has recently expanded its Sudbury base, increasing local employment opportunities,” the report said.

“Others have moved to other ACP services with lower call volumes and reduced operational intensity. These departure patterns show that compensation, workload, and service intensity are increasingly influential factors affecting ACP retention.”

A standing committee has been created to focus on paramedic retention issues, which has produced a comprehensive shift scheduling manual and paramedic staff website to address longstanding concerns and sources of frustration.

HIGHER PAY, BENEFITS DOWN SOUTH

Other steps include a tuition reimbursement program, the creation of a permanent wellness coordinator and a new ACP program at College Boreal.

Working against these efforts are pay and benefit hikes down south.

“In parallel, a new and emerging trend is being observed in parts of southern Ontario, where some paramedic services have implemented significant wage increases to better align paramedic compensation with other emergency services, such as fire and police,” the report said.

“These adjustments have intensified competition for experienced paramedics and may further affect recruitment and retention pressures if disparities continue to widen.”

And with so many new people on staff, the pressure on experienced staff increases.

VIOLENCE AGAINST PARAMEDICS

“Burnout and cumulative fatigue risks also persist, particularly in a workforce with a growing proportion of newer staff,” the report said.

“Operating conditions in high-complexity environments -- including increased homelessness, substance use, and incidents of violence against paramedics -- add further strain.”

The lack of supervisors on the frontline is another growing issue, with the supervisor-to-staff ratios approaching 50:1 at times.

The shortage is “creating challenges in operational oversight, staff support, mentorship for newer paramedics and effective management of complex calls,” the report said.

“This issue is increasingly linked to both workforce sustainability and service quality and warrants further examination and future service enhancements to improve supervisor-to-staff ratios.”

By: Darren MacDonald
CTV News

PARAMEDICS MISSED RESPONSE TIME TARGET FOR MOST SERIOUS CALLS IN 2025

Ottawa paramedics fell short of their response time targets for the most serious medical emergencies in 2025, according to a new city report.

In 2025, the Ottawa Paramedic Service missed its council-approved target for responding to the highest priority calls on the Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS).

The CTAS sets a score from one to five for patient urgency. CTAS 1 calls are the top priority and involve life-threatening emergencies.

Council’s target requires paramedics arrive within eight minutes on 75 per cent of CTAS 1 calls. In 2025, crews achieved that 70.4 per cent of the time, down from 75.1 per cent in 2024.

The report, prepared by Ottawa’s chief paramedic Pierre Poirier, says the shortfall is a result of “a growing population, [an] aging demographic, and health-care system challenges.”

The report also says the benefits of council’s 2024-2026 Paramedic Service Investment Plan — which include funding for 99 new paramedics and support staff — haven’t fully kicked in.

Since 2023, the city and the province have funded 141 new positions across the service.

'LEVEL ZERO' EVENTS DOWN SHARPLY

While paramedics didn’t hit the response time target for CTAS 1 calls, the service exceeded targets for every other category.

They arrived within the target times on 78.3 per cent of CTAS 2 urgent calls, 81.8 per cent of CTAS 3 calls, 87.3 per cent of CTAS 4 calls and 91.8 per cent of CTAS 5 calls.

The paramedic service also sharply reduced the amount of time ambulances were unavailable to respond to an emergency call, something that's known as a "level zero" event.

There were only 866 minutes when no ambulances were available in 2025, down 92 per cent from 11,372 minutes in 2024.

First responders also hit council's response time targets for sudden cardiac arrests, the report said.

The city aims to have someone equipped with a defibrillator — not necessarily paramedics —arrive within six minutes in 65 per cent of cases. That target was met 74.9 per cent of the time in 2025, according to the report.

NOTIFICATION GOALS MISSED

Ontario’s Ministry of Health requires ambulance communication centres to notify paramedics within two minutes for at least 80 per cent of sudden cardiac arrest and CTAS 1 calls, and at least 75 per cent of CTAS 2 calls.

The report shows Ottawa’s centre missed the target for all three.

Dispatchers achieved their goal just 33.7 per cent of the time for sudden cardiac arrests, and were even less successful for CTAS 1 (17.9 per cent) and CTAS 2 (11 per cent) calls.

However, paramedic officials say the province’s current standards don’t account for the new Medical Priority Dispatch System, introduced in 2024, which requires dispatchers to get more information from callers than the previous system.

The new system allows communication centres to better assign a CTAS score, but it takes longer to complete, the report said.

The service is advocating with the Ministry of Health to revise the standards, according to the report.

In 2025, Ottawa’s central ambulance communications centre answered 155,032 calls for service and dispatched 205,496 paramedic responses.

The report is headed to an emergency preparedness and protective services committee meeting on June 15.

By: Cameron Mahler
CBC News

HOW LANARK COUNTY IS TACKLING AMBULANCE WAIT TIMES: A LOOK AT THE NEW PATIENT TRANSFER PILOT

A one-year pilot between Lanark County and Lanark Transportation aims to free up ambulances by transporting stable patients in accessible vans.

The county paramedic service logged over 13,000 patient-carrying calls in 2025, according to a mid-May report to the corporate services committee. Over 35 per cent of these calls were transfers between facilities.

With four hospital sites in Lanark County, the report noted that these transfers are often done for diagnostic purposes, and under the new Medical Priority Dispatch System, ambulances are held back from non-urgent transfers if there are only two or fewer ambulances available in the county.

Transfers are currently completed with two paramedics and one ambulance from its 14-vehicle fleet.

Lanark County has been seeking a way to collaboratively reduce this load off its paramedic service since passing a motion related to its 10-Year Paramedic Human Resources and Facilities Master Plan in November 2025.

And it may have found a solution in Lanark Transportation.

The pilot will see noncritically ill patients transfers using a driver and one of the six accessible vehicles at Lanark Transportation’s disposal.

Kurt Greaves, chief administrative officer for the county, said the additional rides falls under the transportation association’s current service which includes medical appointments.

Under the pilot, the decision on whether to call for an ambulance or Lanark Transportation will fall to the hospital.

Further details on this new protocol are to be worked out between the county paramedic service chief, Lanark Transportation, and the chief executive officers of the local hospitals, according to the report.

This move to have low-acuity transfers shifted to a dedicated transportation services is expected to improve the wait time for paramedic services at the county’s four hospital sites.

The estimated cost for the pilot is $300 per day or $75,000 per year, with Lanark Transportation to be reimbursed by the county for all their expenses.

This program would also be eligible for 50 per cent provincial funding under ambulances services, said Greaves.

Based on the report, the current cost for a patient-carrying paramedic call is just over $1,000 per call. At 13,219 calls in 2025, this accounts to around $13,219,000.

An interim report on the pilot is expected to be brought to council at the six-month mark.

By: Taylor Clark
Inside Ottawa Valley

ESSEX-WINDSOR EMS WELCOMES 24 PARAMEDICS AT COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY

Essex-Windsor EMS officially welcomed 24 part-time paramedics Monday at a commencement ceremony held in Council Chambers at the County of Essex Administration Building.

The paramedics were presented with Chief’s Coins and certificates and had epaulettes added to their uniforms, in several cases by family members who were also paramedics or first responders. The room was packed with friends, colleagues and beaming loved ones, many of them filming the ceremony with their smartphones.

“To the families, friends, and loved ones of our newest paramedics – thank you. Your support is the foundation that makes this moment possible. Behind every uniform is a story, a set of sacrifices, and a circle of people who help carry the weight of this work. Your presence here today matters,” said Essex-Windsor EMS Chief Justin Lammers.

“Paramedicine is a profession that will test you, shape you, and at times, stretch you. The toughest parts of this job are not always in the textbooks. Sometimes they are there in the quiet moments afterward, the reflection, the doubt, the weight you carry home. You will meet people on the worst days of their lives. And you will also work beside people who may be carrying things you will never see. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can offer is not a medication or a procedure, it is patience and kindness.”


The service welcomed 20 new part-time paramedics who recently finished 2-3 years of college or university curriculums followed by their 4-week orientation program and another four paramedics who finished their orientation last autumn.

“Meeting the standards required to join Essex-Windsor EMS is no small accomplishment, and today is a celebration of your hard work, commitment and perseverance,” said Warden Hilda MacDonald.

“You have spent countless hours learning, training and preparing yourselves for a profession that asks a great deal of the people who choose it. You are stepping into a role that demands skill, professionalism, compassion and resilience. On behalf of Essex County Council and the residents we serve, thank you for choosing this path.”

County of Essex CAO Sandra Zwiers told the graduating recruits they were “joining an organization that values professionalism, teamwork, innovation and public service” and that their Chief is a “passionate advocate for both the service and the paramedics who deliver outstanding care, every day, on ever shift, to the residents of Windsor, Essex County and Pelee Island.”

Lammers encouraged the new paramedics to “lead with kindness” and to “treat every patient with the same care you would give someone you love.”

By: County of Essex
KINGSVILLE TIMES

AIR BRAVO CORP. CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF AIR AMBULANCE SERVICE IN NORTHERN ONTARIO

In 2001, pilot Rick Horwath and his optometrist saw an opportunity. Together, they founded Air Bravo Corp. in Elliot Lake, Ont., focused on delivering air ambulance services with one twin-engine Rockwell Commander 700 aircraft.

Formerly the chief pilot at Air Muskoka, Horwath was no stranger to northern operations. His optometrist, Paul Monk, was also a pilot. Together with one medic, the pair worked on growing the business, adding another Commander 700 within the first six months.

By 2003, Horwath had connected with Frank Kelner, who introduced him to the Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop. Kelner, who was instrumental in bringing the Swiss-made PC-12 to the Canadian market in 1996, was a staunch advocate of the plane’s capabilities. He convinced Horwath that the PC-12 was the best choice for his growing air ambulance operation.

“By 2003, we became the first PC-12 operator for air ambulance operations in Ontario, with a base in Thunder Bay,” recalled Horwath. “By the end of that year, I had purchased the other half of the business from my partner and put an office in the hallway outside Frank’s office.”

Today, Air Bravo flies Canada’s largest privately-owned fleet of PC-12 aircraft, with 22 aircraft in total. The company has expanded its repertoire to include passenger and cargo services in addition to medical flights.

“When we first started in 2001, we came on as the 13th carrier doing work for the Ontario Ministry of Health,” recalled Horwath. “Now, we are one of four, and we are the largest of the four.”

Air Bravo operates three provincial bases: Its headquarters in Thunder Bay, plus Sudbury and Lake Simcoe Regional Airport in Barrie. Maintenance is performed in Thunder Bay and Sudbury. Horwath also acquired the Owen Sound Airport in 2024 and told Skies Plus he is looking at opening a base there, too. (The original Elliot Lake location was closed in 2014.)

Air Bravo employs about 160 people in total, including pilots, primary care medics, aircraft maintenance engineers, and operational support staff.

“We do air ambulance, private charters and medevacs, corporate charters and pleasure trips, freight runs for northern communities, and fly workers into generating stations for Hydro One,” Horwath explained. “We fly Anishnaabe Police Service crew swaps and fly them to court appearances, and transport prisoners to Thunder Bay and other locations. We do a lot of flying to support the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), firefighting and otherwise.”

Since it was founded in 2001, Air Bravo has been an air ambulance contractor for the Ontario Ministry of Health, and it now holds standing contracts with Ornge, Ontario’s air medical service provider.

“We take infants and preemies with an incubator,” said Horwath. “We stand out because of the type of aircraft we use—we were the first to introduce the PC-12 to air ambulance operations in Ontario, and now it is the preferred aircraft, thanks to its range and safety record.”

Over its 25-year history, Air Bravo is proud to have a spotless safety record, holding ARGUS Platinum and BARS Gold certifications.

Each of its 22 PC-12 single-engine turboprops—about half of which can be converted for medevacs—flies around 150 hours per month. In addition, Air Bravo logs around 50 hours per month on Canada’s first Cessna SkyCourier, which it acquired in February 2025.

The latter has proven extremely effective at moving freight, said Horwath, and a second new SkyCourier—outfitted in a combi configuration for passengers and freight—is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2027.

Capable of moving 6,500 pounds of cargo, Air Bravo’s non-pressurized SkyCourier supports Ontario’s northernmost communities, including Fort Severn on Hudson Bay and Attawapiskat on James Bay, as well as interior settlements. Horwath said its huge cargo door permits Air Bravo to transport food, supplies and construction material—even snowmobiles, ATVs, and 16-foot aluminum boats.

“I call it a miniature Hercules,” chuckled Horwath. “During fire season, we hauled drums of fuel for OMNR to refuel waterbombers, up to 14 drums at a time.”

Rounding out the Air Bravo fleet, Horwath said the company recently decided to bring two Rockwell Commander 700s back online for corporate charters. Third-party Piper Navajos are contracted when required.

Horwath, who holds dual Canadian and American citizenships, said he is also launching a U.S. Part 135 commuter and on-demand operation out of Fort Myers, Fla., by early May. PC-12 aircraft are now being acquired for that location.

By: Lisa Gordon
Skies Plus

PETERBOROUGH COUNTY-CITY PARAMEDICS WELCOME 23 NEW TEAM MEMBERS

The service announced that 23 new paramedics have joined the team as part of its spring intake.

Among the group are members of the service's first cohort of graduates who have now officially transitioned from students into professional paramedics.

The milestone marks the beginning of a new chapter for the graduates as they move into front-line roles responding to calls and providing care throughout the community.

In welcoming the new recruits, PCCP highlighted the experience, dedication and compassion they bring to the profession and expressed confidence in the impact they will have on residents they serve.

The additions strengthen the local paramedic service as it continues to respond to the healthcare needs of communities across the region.

By: Scott Arnold
PTBO Canada.com

KAWARTHA LAKES COMMUNITY PARAMEDICS PUT THEIR BEST FOOT FORWARD WITH DONATION TO THE HUB

Paramedic Services Week, all paramedics, senior staff and council received a pair of sock rocket custom socks.

For every pair of adult-size sports socks purchased, the team was able to donate three pairs to Community Integrated Care Hub, known as ‘The Hub’ (John Howard Society of the Kawarthas). In total, 750 pairs have been donated to The Hub.

“We really appreciate the Community Paramedics team for their support,” said Kristal Jones-Craighead, program director of the Community Integrated Care Hub, in a press release. “The budget we set aside for purchasing socks can now be used in our food and meal programming.”

Thank you to our community paramedic outreach team for organizing this incredible initiative. It was an excellent opportunity to provide our paramedics and staff with a gift to recognize their service, while also giving back to our community.

Community paramedics are specially-trained paramedics who provide scheduled, non-emergency care to eligible residents in their homes and communities. They help residents manage chronic conditions, access healthcare services, and remain safe and independent at home for longer. Community paramedics provide wellness checks, health assessments, remote monitoring, education, and connections to local supports. They help reduce unnecessary emergency department visits and improve overall quality of care.

Led by the John Howard Society of the Kawarthas, The Hub is a 12-bed emergency shelter with drop-in and program space, located near key amenities. The Community Integrated Care Hub is a purpose-built space designed to provide low-barrier, person-centered services grounded in a harm reduction framework. Through a ‘No Wrong Door’ approach, The Hub centralizes services and offers wrap-around supports so people can access what they need in one place, from basic needs like showers, laundry, meals, and a safe overnight space, to connections with health and community supports.

By: Lindsay Advocate
Kawartha Lakes Weekly

OTTAWA PARAMEDIC DISPATCH CENTRE RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL ACCREDITATION

The City of Ottawa says the Ottawa Paramedic Service Communications Centre was recognized for attaining the Accredited Centre of Excellence (ACE) designation.

The designation is awarded by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch and is given to dispatch centres that achieve “the highest level of triage and dispatching, quality assurance and clinical care,” the city says.

“Our emergency medical dispatchers are required to continuously exceed 97 per cent compliance with call taking protocols,” a news release said.

Officials, including Mayor Mark Sutcliffe, emergency and protective services committee chair Coun. Riley Brockington, and Ottawa Paramedic Service Chief Pierre Poirier were on hand Thursday to accept the designation.

“I have the utmost appreciation and admiration for our emergency medical dispatchers, paramedics, and all support staff for achieving this incredible milestone and ensuring Ottawa remains at the forefront of emergency response,” Poirier said. “This achievement is a reflection of your expertise, innovation, and passion for providing exceptional patient care in our community.”

The city credits the introduction of the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) in 2024 as a “foundational requirement” in achieving the prestigious accreditation. The system is more specific in triaging calls and determining when an ambulance with lights and siren should be dispatched. It replaced a system that had been developed in the 1980s and was criticized for over-triaging 9-1-1 calls.

The city says the change to the MPDS helped to significantly reduce “level zero” events, when no ambulance is available to take a call. New statistics show a nearly 99 per cent drop in the number of level zero instances in the last four years.

“I’m proud of the entire team at Ottawa Paramedic Service for achieving this designation and for the compassion, professionalism, and commitment they show to residents every single day,” Sutcliffe said.

“This recognition confirms what Ottawa residents already know: our paramedic service is among the very best. It reflects a culture of excellence in training, quality assurance, clinical care, and emergency dispatching, and recognizes the expertise and professionalism that our dispatchers bring to every call.”

The city says the Ottawa Paramedic Service was also recognized for creating and filling 141 new positions across the service since 2022, enhancing service to rural areas with response units dedicated to Kinburn, Richmond, and Metcalfe, and creating a Health and Wellbeing Unit with three permanent employees providing psychological support to staff.

The city is also working toward a new paramedic deployment facility in Barrhaven, which will provide more space for staff, vehicles and equipment and improve response times in the west and south of Ottawa.

“Achieving the Accredited Centre of Excellence designation is a testament to the unwavering commitment and inspiring dedication of everyone in the Ottawa Paramedic Service,” said Brockington. “By embracing innovative tools and global best practices, we’re ensuring that everyone in Ottawa receives the highest level of care and support during their most critical moments.”

By: Ted Raymond
CTV News