Ottawa is one of many Ontario cities where finding a family doctor has become a genuine struggle, and the province just signaled it's ready to do something about it at scale. Ontario is preparing to issue a call for proposals to create or expand 78 primary care teams across the province, part of a broader push to connect 600,000 more people to primary care as it works toward attaching every Ontarian to a doctor or nurse practitioner by 2029.
What's actually being proposed
The plan centers on primary care teams — group practices where family doctors, nurse practitioners, and other health professionals like dietitians, social workers, or pharmacists work together under one roof. These team-based models have consistently shown they can take on more patients than a solo family doctor working alone, which is exactly the kind of capacity Ontario says it needs as it chases its 2029 goal. The call for proposals will invite existing clinics to expand and new teams to form in communities where the gap between residents and available care is widest.
Why this matters here in Ottawa
Ottawa has felt its own version of the family doctor shortage for years. Local walk-in clinics regularly report being overwhelmed, virtual care apps have become a stopgap for residents without a regular doctor, and Ottawa Public Health has flagged primary care access as a persistent concern in the city's health equity reporting. Community health centres in neighbourhoods like Vanier, Overbrook, and parts of the city's rural west end have long waitlists, and it's not uncommon for Ottawa residents to drive to Gatineau or rely on the emergency department for care that a family doctor would normally handle.
If Ottawa-area clinics and community health centres are able to successfully bid for funding through this new call for proposals, it could mean real relief — shorter waits, more team-based clinics accepting new patients, and fewer Ottawans falling back on the ER for non-emergency issues. The province hasn't yet said how the 78 new or expanded teams will be distributed geographically, so it's not guaranteed Ottawa gets a large share, but as one of Ontario's biggest cities with a well-documented unattached-patient problem, local health organizations are expected to be strong contenders when applications open.
What happens next
Ontario has not released a firm timeline for when the call for proposals will formally launch or when successful applicants will be announced. Ottawa residents who are currently without a family doctor can register with Health Care Connect, the province's matching service, in the meantime, though wait times through that program have also grown in recent years.
For now, this is a signal of intent rather than a done deal for Ottawa specifically — but it's the kind of provincial investment that, if it lands here, could meaningfully shrink the list of Ottawans without a family doctor.
Source: CBC Ottawa
