'A tax on sick people': Ottawa hospitals have record-breaking year for parking revenue

Ottawa Citizen

2 days ago

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On a recent visit to Ottawa, Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles met with MPPs and toured the new Civic hospital construction site, including the massive parking garage now under construction. But her first stop was more personal.
She spent the morning with her elderly father who had been taken to the emergency department at the General campus of The Ottawa Hospital and was undergoing tests. But one person was noticeably absent during her hospital visit: her mom.
'They are fixed-income seniors. They can't afford it—and they've spent so many hundreds of dollars already on parking fees,' said Stiles.
They are far from alone. Across the province, patients and advocates say the high cost of parking at a hospital amounts to a tax on sick people and their families at a time they can least afford it.
And while provinces like Nova Scotia this year eliminated parking fees at all health-care sites across the province, Ottawa is currently building the city's largest paid parking garage as part of the Ottawa Hospital's new campus by Dow's Lake.
Ottawa's Julie Booker, who was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer nearly 15 years ago, says hospital parking fees made up a significant portion of the thousands of dollars her family spent during her cancer treatments.
'When you are diagnosed with cancer, you are at the hospital all the time for appointments. The Canadian Cancer Society has found that the average Canadian spends $33,000 out of pocket for lifetime expenses. Saving parking fees would really help,' she said.
Booker, who continues to work with and advocate for cancer patients, said everyone has concerns about the cost of parking. An older woman she spoke with was parking far away from the hospital and walking a long distance while undergoing radiation treatment at the General campus because she couldn't afford parking fees.
'Radiation is tiring for the best of people. She is exhausted because she has to walk so far. These people have enough to worry about.'
Patients, families, caregivers and organizations such as the Canadian Cancer Society all say hospital parking fees – which top out at $15.60 a day in Ottawa and at $20 or more in parts of the GTA – are an unfair and often unaffordable burden on people who are already undergoing physical, mental and financial stress. In most cases, all-day fees apply after just two hours.
Advocates are encouraged to see hospital parking fees on the radar in Canada and say now is the time to do something about them in Ontario. Jeff Burch, an NDP MPP from Niagara Centre, has put forward a motion calling for the province to eliminate hospital parking fees, following in Nova Scotia's footsteps.
'Right now, people are paying hundreds of dollars a year just to get the care they need. Times are tough, and this is one simple way the government can help people and make healthcare more accessible,' Burch said.
Such a motion is meant to put pressure on the government to take action. Stiles said she believes the government is starting to listen to concerns about the issue as more people speak up.
Nova Scotia's parking fee elimination move involves the provincial government reimbursing hospitals for lost parking revenue. Ontario would have to do the same and 'properly fund hospitals' in order to take the burden of parking fees off patients and visitors, said Burch.
But it will be a tough sell in Ontario, which has the lowest per-capita funding of hospitals in the country and where cash-strapped hospitals – many of whom are facing deficits – are increasingly reliant on hospital parking fees to keep afloat.
In Ottawa, hospitals and their foundations took in more than $35 million in parking revenues in 2024, minus costs related to parking. The city's largest hospital, The Ottawa Hospital (TOH), took in the bulk of parking revenue at its multiple campuses — totalling $25.5 million in 2024 (with parking expenses of $7.6 million) compared with $20.8 million in 2023 (with parking expenses of $5.5 million). That is an 18 per cent increase in parking revenue over one year.
Parking rates at TOH increased by 3.9 per cent last fall for patients and visitors and by three per cent for staff.
The hospital's parking revenue is likely to increase further with the construction of a multi-story parking garage at the new Civic campus, which is scheduled to open in the next year – years before the hospital itself is set to open.
The new garage, which is located across from Dow's Lake at Carling Avenue and Prince of Wales Drive, will have 2,900 parking spots. It is currently a concrete shell built on top of the LRT tracks.
The parking garage has been controversial among some residents, particularly because of its presence on the edge of some of the most widely prized green space in the city and because of its size. Earlier drawings showed the finished parking garage mostly hidden by grass berms and trees with a park on top. It is unclear whether that has changed.
It is one of two large hospital parking structures built in Ottawa in advance of the hospitals they will serve. At CHEO, construction on the new 1,050-space parking garage began long before ground was broken for the new Children's Treatment Centre. The Ottawa Hospital has said that the parking garage was built first to make sure construction workers on the new campus had a place to park and to ensure parking was available as soon as it was open.
To some, the fact that the parking garages come first is a symbol of how inextricably tied parking is to healthcare in Ontario.
Individual hospitals and their umbrella body – the Ontario Hospital Association – say they understand that some patients, families and health care workers have concerns about hospital parking fees.
'We know that many Ontarians are currently on limited budgets or fixed incomes and may also be facing health care challenges,' said Marina Bozic, a spokesperson for the Ontario Hospital Association.
Hospitals are working to address some of those concerns, she said, including policies to help cases 'where parking costs may pose a significant concern.'
But hospitals also rely on the revenue, they acknowledge.
'Unfortunately, Ontario hospitals are managing many financial pressures, and they are often faced with challenging budgetary decisions aimed at containing costs while meeting the increasing service needs of patients. The OHA (Ontario Hospital Association) and its members remain in close contact with the Government of Ontario on these matters as the financial and operational stability of hospitals and the provision of high-quality care for patients is our paramount priority,' Bozic said.
Rebecca Ableson, spokesperson for The Ottawa Hospital, called parking a 'long-standing challenge' at TOH and across the province.
Parking funds, she said, support key capital projects at the hospital, help pay for new medical equipment and help build new patient care environments that are not funded by the government.
At Queensway Carleton Hospital, proceeds from parking help to pay for things such as medical equipment, which are not funded by the government, said spokesperson Natasha Curley. In 2024, Queensway Carleton's parking revenue was $4.88 million, up from $4.16 million the year before.
And at Montfort Hospital, parking is managed by the Montfort Foundation. In 2024, parking revenues were just over $2 million and were almost entirely invested in education and research at the hospital's research institute Institut du Savoir Montfort, said spokesperson Martin Sauve.
CHEO's parking revenue was $4.2 million dollars between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024. The revenues are invested in programs, services and medical equipment such as MRIs. CHEO and other hospitals offer frequent user passes and long-term passes at a discounted rate.
Replacing that hospital revenue is one challenge, but eliminating hospital parking fees also comes with other challenges.