We, the concerned citizens of Ontario, urge the government to address the critical issue of defunding family medicine. It is imperative to recognize that family doctors are not just healthcare professionals but also small business owners who face significant financial challenges due to inadequate funding.

Family doctors in Ontario are paid by the government through funding intended to cover various expenses such as rent, staff salaries, nursing services, electronic medical records, computers, phone bills, utilities, and more. However, this funding has remained stagnant for far too long and has failed to keep up with rising costs and inflation. As a result, family doctors struggle to meet their basic operational expenses.

To shed light on this issue further:

1. Financial Burden:  The average cost of running a single doctor's practice exceeds $100,000 per year.  (Source: Ontario Medical Association)

2. Inadequate Compensation:  Unlike salaried professionals or employees who receive benefits such as 1-yr maternity leaves, pensions, sick leave, vacation pay, health and dental benefits from their employers, family doctors do not have access to these benefits despite their crucial role in our healthcare system.

3. Uncompensated Workload:  Family doctors provide upto 20 hrs/wk of UNPAID administrative work to manage incoming results, bloodwork, diagnostic imaging - xray, CT, MRI reports, pharmacy prescription requests, specialists’ requests and notifications, without receiving any additional compensation. (Source: Ontario College of Family Physicians)

4. Recruitment Challenges:  The above financial constraints faced by family doctors discourages new graduates from entering primary care practice. (Source: Canadian Medical Association).  The government can increase medical school spots, but in the last decade, 20% FEWER medical students are choosing Family Medicine. (Source: CARMS statistics https://www.carms.ca/data-reports/r1-data-reports/r-1-match-interactive-data/

5) Retention Challenges:  Once Family Physicians finish their training, FEWER family medicine graduates are choosing to ACTUALLY PRACTICE Family Medicine.  Choosing instead to work in the ER, hospital, focused areas - sports medicine, or cosmetics clinics or alternative careers such as working for the federal government or consulting.  These positions often pay much better, do not have unpaid administrative burden, and require much less business responsibilities. 

Up to 47% of physicians (includes family doctors and specialists) polled by Statistics Canada stated they planned on leaving the profession within the next 5 years. (Source: Statistics Canada https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220603/cg-a002-eng.htm

This does not take into account those planning to RETIRE within the next 5 years. Many have already begun leaving, a phenomenon known as #DOCXIT

We believe it is essential for our government representatives to take immediate action towards fair compensation for family doctors in order to maintain a robust primary care system that serves all Ontarians effectively.

By signing this petition, we demand that the government:

1. Increase funding for family doctors to cover rising operational costs and inflation.
2. Provide fair compensation packages, including access to pensions, health benefits, and paid sick time.
3. Recognize the additional workload of family doctors by compensating them for administrative burden.
4. Implement measures to attract and retain new graduates into primary care practice in Ontario.

It is high time we value the dedication and hard work of our family doctors who play a vital role in keeping our communities healthy. Let us stand together to ensure they receive fair compensation that reflects their contributions.