Ontario urged to drop parking fees for hospital patients

Hamilton Spectator

07-05-2025

The Ford government is being urged to cover parking costs for hospital patients, some of whom say they are paying hundreds — and even thousands — of dollars while they get treatment.
New Democrat MPP Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre) tabled a motion in the Ontario legislature Wednesday saying patients, their families and front-line staff should not have to pay to park at hospitals.
'No one should have to worry about paying for parking when they go to the hospital,' he said. 'Right now, people are spending hundreds of dollars a year just to access care — whether it's for regular treatments, emergency visits or to support a loved one. It is unfair to charge health-care workers to park when they are at work to save lives.'
The call follows a recent move by Nova Scotia, where Conservative Premier Tim Houston eliminated parking fees at hospitals for patients, visitors and health-care workers, and said his government would help make up the financial shortfall.
'This is a common-sense solution to fight rising costs and improve access to health care,' Burch said at Queen's Park.
Ontarians who are diagnosed with cancer face an average of about $33,000 in overall extra costs in their lifetime, the Canadian Cancer Society said, and doing away with parking fees would help ease that financial burden.
'Ontario should follow Nova Scotia's lead and ensure patients pay for the care they need, when and where they need it, with their OHIP card, not their credit card,' said society spokesperson Hillary Buchan-Terrell.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said there already limits on how much hospital visitors and staff are charged for parking, and that hospitals must offer reasonable daily rates, as well as discounted weekly and monthly passes.
Burch says the discounts now in effect won't solve the problem. 'They can't predict when they're going to get sick,' he said. 'Having a monthly pass isn't going to be helpful.'
Debbie MacGregor, a St. Catharines resident, said she paid more than $7,000 in parking fees between 2016 and 2025 after her sister, mother and brother were admitted to hospitals before succumbing to their illnesses.
While hospitals must already provide discounted monthly passes, MacGregor said that at the time, she was unsure how long her family members would be in the hospital so she didn't take advantage of them.
NDP Leader Marit Stiles said parking costs are 'an issue we hear about all the time.'
People 'don't have a choice in many parts of this province but to actually park at a hospital,' Stiles said. 'These are the ways that the government gets around properly funding our hospitals, by allowing for these kind of outrageous parking fees.'
The provincial government, she added, should 'not be forcing people — patients and their families — to shoulder that burden.'