Frontenac County will receive $14.3 million, while Lanark County’s funding will rise to $7.3 million
The Ontario government is increasing land ambulance funding for Frontenac and Lanark counties this year as paramedic services contend with rising demand and operating costs.
Frontenac County will receive $14,304,306, an increase of 14 per cent. The province is also providing $547,635 through the Dedicated Offload Nurses Program to hire nurses and other eligible health professionals to help transfer ambulance patients into hospital emergency departments.
Marc Goudie, chief and director of Frontenac Paramedics, said the increased Land Ambulance Service Grant and continued support for a dedicated offload nurse at Kingston General Hospital will help preserve local paramedic capacity.
“Commitments like these help paramedics preserve our capacity to deliver critical services to the residents of Frontenac County and Kingston even as demand pressure continues to rise,” Goudie said. “This important announcement also symbolizes government support for paramedics and for our profession.”
Lanark County will receive $7,327,283 in provincial land ambulance funding, an increase of five per cent. The province said the increase is intended to help municipalities address rising costs while continuing to provide emergency medical services.
“As Lanark County grows and demand for our services continues to increase, this sustained provincial partnership helps ensure our paramedics have the resources they need to respond when residents need them most,” said Travis Mellema, chief of the Lanark County Paramedic Service.
John Jordan, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston and parliamentary assistant to the minister of health, said the funding supports the work of paramedics in both counties.
“This vital investment from our government strengthens the essential work our paramedics do every day, responding with compassion, skill and speed, to keep our residents safe,” Jordan said.
The funding is part of more than $1 billion Ontario is providing to municipalities for land ambulance services this year. That represents an average increase of nine per cent from 2025, according to the province.
Ontario said its Dedicated Offload Nurses Program allows paramedics to return to service sooner by assigning nurses and other eligible health professionals to receive ambulance patients in emergency departments.
Provincial ambulance offload times have declined by approximately 68 per cent since reaching a peak in October 2022, the government said. The province did not provide regional offload-time figures for Frontenac or Lanark counties in its announcement.
“With provincial ambulance offload times declining by nearly 70 per cent since 2022, this shows that our plan is working,” Health Minister Sylvia Jones said.
The province said additional investments in the offload nursing program over three years have funded more than 1.6 million hours of support in hospital emergency departments.
More than 300 community-based patient-care models led by paramedic services have also been approved across Ontario. The models allow eligible 911 patients to receive care in the community instead of being transported to an emergency department.
Ontario has also expanded its Learn and Stay Grant to students entering selected paramedic programs. The grant covers tuition, books, compulsory fees and other eligible education costs. Recipients must work in the region where they studied for at least six months for each full year of study funded by the grant.
SOURCE: From the office of Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP John Jordan.
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