The Canadian Union of Public Employees called for the government of Ontario to ban the use of staffing firms in the province’s healthcare system.

It cited proposed legislation by Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government that the union says required healthcare staffing firms to provide “aggregate administrative, billing or pay rate information” to the Minister of Health. The union said the bill doesn’t address the health system’s escalating staffing crisis.

Having more transparency is not enough, Michael Hurley, president of the CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, said in a press release.

“It doesn’t prevent agencies from poaching staff away from the public system and weakening morale,” Hurley said. “The government must phase agencies out of healthcare profiteering and eventually enforce a permanent ban.”

Ontario’s “More Convenient Care Act, 2024” was introduced on Dec. 2.

It calls for a transparency framework for staffing agencies that operate in the hospital, long-term care and community health sectors to disclose administrative markup rates to the government through the new “Health Care Staffing Agency Reporting Act, 2024,” according to the official announcement.

The union said it is reiterating its demand for the government to develop a comprehensive staffing plan:

• “Ban the use of agency nursing in Ontario’s health care sector by phasing them out over the next three years. In the interim period, CUPE recommends limiting wages of agency staff to within 10% of in-house staff.”
• “Invest in permanent, full-time healthcare jobs that offer fair compensation.”
• “Address burnout and unsafe working conditions that are driving staff away and provide incentives like on-site child care for the predominantly female workforce.”
• “Develop a robust healthcare recruitment strategy to attract talent, with financial incentives for nursing and PSW students and expansion of college programs.”