Family doctor access top priority for Ontarians; 15% still without
Toronto, ON, December 5, 2025 — Access to a family doctor remains the number one healthcare priority, with one-third (33%) of Ontarians selecting it as their top concern and nearly two-thirds (65%) including it among their top five priorities, according to a new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the Ontario Medical Association. Despite this, 15% of Ontarians report not having a family doctor at all. The survey reveals that an overwhelming 93% of Ontarians consider having a family doctor important, with 73% rating it as very important.
Despite this near-universal valuation of family doctors, only 11% of Ontarians say it has become easier to see a family doctor over the past year. Two-thirds (66%) report no change in their ability to access primary care, while 12% say access has become harder. A small proportion (7%) report it has become easier to see another primary care provider such as a nurse practitioner.
Primary care access changes over the past year
| No change | 66% |
| No, in fact it’s been harder to get access | 12% |
| Easier to see a family doctor | 11% |
| Easier to see another primary care provider | 7% |
| Haven’t tried to access primary care services | 4% |
Other healthcare priorities identified by Ontarians include waiting times for emergency room care, waiting times for cancer care, and access to mental healthcare. These findings highlight the range of healthcare concerns among Ontario residents.
Healthcare professionals maintain strong public trust despite access challenges.
While access challenges persist, Ontarians continue to hold healthcare professionals in high regard. The vast majority express favorable impressions of key healthcare providers: 85% for both registered nurses and pharmacists, 82% for nurse practitioners, and 80% for doctors. When asked who they trust more to make decisions that are in their best interests regarding the future of the healthcare system, 58% of Ontarians identify doctors, followed by nurses (16%), hospitals (12%), the Ontario government (10%), and pharmacists (4%).
Impression of healthcare professionals
| Favorable (T2B) | Unfavorable (B2B) | |
| Registered Nurses | 85% | 11% |
| Pharmacists | 85% | 12% |
| Nurse Practitioners | 82% | 11% |
| Doctors | 80% | 18% |
Ontario support system modernization and fair compensation for doctors.
The public demonstrates strong support for healthcare system modernization. An overwhelming 88% of Ontarians support implementing a single province-wide electronic health record system, while 84% back a centralized specialist referral system that would match patients with the next available qualified specialists rather than maintaining single-doctor waitlist. Additionally, 85% want Ontario to invest in technology that makes specialist referrals easier.
When it comes to physician compensation, a strong majority (69%) of Ontarians prefer to see doctors receive a modest pay increase in the next round of negotiations between Ontario’s doctors and the Ontario Government. Just over one in five (22%) support a pay freeze, while only 8% favor a modest pay cut.
Public shows limited awareness of system challenges despite support for reform.
While Ontarians support system improvements, awareness of specific healthcare challenges remains limited. Only 20% are aware of billing system problems where doctors are not paid for certain services they provide. However, when informed of these issues, 79% agree the government needs to invest in overhauling the OHIP system to ensure doctors are paid for delivering services where there are currently gaps. Furthermore, 61% would hold the government/OHIP responsible rather than doctors if physicians stopped providing unpaid services.
About the Study
These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between October 6 and 9, 2025, on behalf of the Ontario Medical Association. For this survey, a sample of 1,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed online via the Ipsos I-Say panel. Quota sampling and weighting were employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall poll is accurate to within ±3.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.
For more information on this factum, please contact:
| Sandra Guiry Senior Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs +1 416-884-8534 [email protected] | Pilar Canavesi Senior Account Manager, Ipsos Public Affairs +1 416-324-2900 [email protected] |
About Ipsos
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