AI disclosure statement: Grammarly was used to check spelling
Listen to the whole story here:
Nurses and supporters rallied at Toronto General Hospital today protesting layoffs at Ontario hospitals that face growing patient demands and staffing pressures. Meanwhile, nursing students all over the province are preparing to enter a profession facing layoffs, heavy workloads and concerns about burnout.
“The public needs to know that, it’s patient care that suffers in the end,” Sandi Jones said, speaking at the rally. Jones is the nursing division president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) who organized the rally and represents more than 10,000 nurses at SEIU Healthcare. Jones said the proposed layoffs at University Health Network (UHN) could have consequences beyond staffing shortages, particularly for patient care.
According to the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), more than 1,907 registered nurse and health-care professional positions have been cut or eliminated across Ontario hospitals since January 2025. The association estimates these reductions represent approximately 3.1 million hours of lost patient care annually.
Ontario’s government says they are investing in nursing education, announcing $56.8 million to expand nursing enrollment just this past August. The investment comes as more than 14,000 students are enrolled in nursing programs across the province.
Despite these efforts, an Oct. 19 report by Statistics Canada found that Canada recorded 67,900 job vacancies across health occupations in 2025, nearly three times the number reported in 2016.
Ontario’s 2026 budget outlines plans to increase health sector spending from $97.1 billion in 2025-26 to $101.2 billion in 2026-27. However, the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) projects the province’s spending plan would support 2,522 fewer provincially funded nurses by 2028-29 compared with 2025-26 levels.
The contrast between expanding nursing education and reducing hospital positions raises questions about how Ontario will support nursing students entering an already strained health-care workforce.
While hospitals face staffing reductions, Ontario universities continue to enroll students in nursing programs. At Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), first-year enrolment in the four-year collaborative nursing program increased from 179 students in 2020-21 to 283 students in 2024-25, according to university enrolment data.
The University of Toronto also reported an increase in nursing enrolment, rising from 399 full-time equivalent students in 2023-24 to 446 in 2024-25, according to its 2024-25 enrolment report.
However, enrollment figures alone do not show how many students graduate and enter the nursing workforce, leaving questions about whether expanding nursing education will be enough to address existing staffing challenges.
For newly graduated nurses, entering the workforce can bring challenges beyond securing employment.
Jessica Silva, who has worked in an emergency department for two and a half years, said newly graduated nurses can face demanding workloads, extended shifts and limited support as they transition into the profession.
“I think nurses are prepared academically to be nurses but they are not prepared for what they are about to walk into,” Silva said.
Recent hospital layoffs have added another layer of uncertainty for those preparing to enter the nursing profession.
Kate Lacson, a nurse at UHN, said the layoffs could leave nursing students uncertain about entering the profession.
“It makes them a little bit unsure about the future of what kind of career they’re going to have as nursing,” Lacson said.
Despite these concerns, Lacson emphasized the continued need for nurses as Canada’s population ages.
“We are an aging population. We do need nurses in the future,” Lacson said.
Not all nursing students share those concerns about entering the profession.
Lily Browns, who recently began her nursing education at York University, said the growing demand for nurses has encouraged her to pursue the profession.
“It almost made me more excited to become a nurse because of the high demand. It feels like I’m preparing myself to make a bigger change in people’s lives,” Browns said.
However, Browns, who has yet to begin her clinical placements, said she remains uncertain about how well her classroom education will prepare her for the demands of working as a nurse.
“I think it’ll be different when I do clinicals but as of right now, I don’t know if it’s actively preparing me for the specific nursing that I want to go into,” she said.
Charlotte Lee, a nursing educator at TMU for 13 years, said one of the biggest challenges facing nursing education is ensuring students have access to clinical placements and experienced nurses who can support their training.
“For nursing education, one of the most concerning consequences is the availability of appropriate clinical placements and experienced RN preceptors,” Lee said.
As experienced nurses face increasing workloads, Lee said it becomes more difficult to provide students with the supervision and learning opportunities needed during their training.
“Although nursing education provides the foundation for safe practice, it cannot fully reproduce the responsibilities and organizational pressures of working as a registered nurse,” Lee said.
Jones raised similar concerns about the impact of staffing reductions on nursing education, saying fewer experienced nurses on hospital floors could limit opportunities for students to receive mentorship during their clinical placements.
“It takes time to teach, and it takes time to enable a student to feel comfortable in the job that they’re doing,” Jones said.
With 42 years of experience as a nurse, Jones said she still remembers the mentors who helped her when she first entered the profession, emphasizing the importance of those relationships in developing skilled nurses.
“And when we don’t do this, we introduce burnout. And then what happens is we introduce exodus. Nurses just leave because they can’t do it,” Jones said.
Reporter, OTR, F2026.
Reporter, OTR, F2026.
