Summary#

The Primary Care Act, 2025 is a new Ontario law; it does not amend another Act. It sets out the government’s objectives for publicly funded primary care, with the stated goal of helping insured people know what to expect. The Act was enacted as Chapter 8 of Ontario’s 2025 statutes.

• The government’s objectives include giving insured people the opportunity for an ongoing relationship with a primary care clinician or team, coordinated services, and timely access.
• The objectives also cover access free from barriers and discrimination prohibited by law, access to personal health information through a digitally integrated system, and information about system performance.
• The Minister of Health must publish a report describing the government’s work toward the objectives. It must include the percentage of insured people with an ongoing primary care relationship.
• The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations adding details to the objectives and prescribing more report information.
• The Act says it creates no private-law right or duty, and that non-compliance does not affect the validity of government policies, laws, directives, instruments or decisions.

What it means for you#

• Insured people in Ontario: The objectives describe what the government should work toward, including an ongoing relationship with a clinician or team and timely, coordinated care. They do not guarantee that you will get a clinician, a particular service or timely care.
• People seeking to enforce these objectives: The Act does not create a private-law right to sue for a failure to meet them. It also says non-compliance does not invalidate a policy or decision.
• People seeking information about the system: The Minister must make reports public. The Act does not itself give individuals a new right to access their personal health information; digital access is an objective for the system.
• Government and the Minister: The government must use the objectives in designing, implementing and maintaining the publicly funded primary care system. The Minister must prepare and publish reports. The Act does not set direct duties for clinicians or care teams.

Money#

No cost information is in the available material.

• The Act requires annual reporting but gives no estimate of the staff time or cost involved.
• It does not specify new funding, spending, fees or fines.

What is unclear#

• The Act does not define “primary care clinician or team,” “timely,” or what would count as a digitally integrated system.
• It sets no service targets, deadlines for meeting the objectives, individual application process, or appeal process.
• The Minister decides what additional information is appropriate for reports; regulations may add required information, including performance measures.
• The Act does not explain how its objectives fit with existing primary care programs or what funding and staffing will support them.
• The Act says it comes into force on Royal Assent, but the supplied material does not give the date Royal Assent occurred.

Case for#

• A possible argument for the Act is that it sets out shared goals for primary care across Ontario, including continuity, coordination, timely access and inclusion.
• Public reports could give people information about progress, including the share of insured people with an ongoing primary care relationship.
• Giving the government power to add details by regulation could allow the objectives and reporting to be developed further.

Case against#

• The objectives do not guarantee services to individuals, and the Act creates no private-law remedy if they are not met.
• The Act does not set measurable targets or deadlines for achieving most objectives, so it may be hard to judge progress.
• The Minister has discretion over much of the report’s content unless regulations require more. The Act does not specify how the government will fund or carry out the work.