I stood at the window of Whitby’s municipal chambers as Regional Chair John Henry addressed a small group of local officials. Beyond the glass, Durham Region sprawled—communities in transition, where healthcare needs have rapidly outpaced services.
“When it takes longer to get an MRI than it does to buy a car, we have a problem,” Henry said, his voice carrying the weight of frustration I’ve heard from countless residents across the region.
Last week, Durham politicians took their healthcare concerns directly to provincial decision-makers at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa. The annual gathering has become an essential forum for local leaders to advocate for their communities’ pressing needs, and this year, healthcare dominated the agenda.
The delegation from Durham Region met with Health Minister Sylvia Jones to advocate for increased healthcare funding to address critical gaps in medical services. Their case wasn’t just about numbers—it was about people waiting months for diagnostic imaging, families driving to Toronto for specialist appointments, and emergency rooms operating beyond capacity.
“We’re seeing concerning trends where children in east Durham need to travel to SickKids in Toronto because we don’t have the services here,” John Henry told me when I caught up with him after the conference. “That’s not sustainable for families already dealing with a child’s illness.”
What makes Durham’s situation particularly challenging is its rapid population growth. The region has added nearly 100,000 residents in the past decade according to Statistics Canada, but healthcare infrastructure hasn’t kept pace. Lakeridge Health, the region’s hospital network, routinely operates at over 100% capacity, while some communities like north Durham function with significantly fewer physicians per capita than provincial averages.
When I visited Uxbridge’s cottage hospital last spring, nurse manager Elaine Roberts walked me through hallways where patients sometimes waited on gurneys. “We’re making do with what we have,” she said, “but our building and staffing were designed for a different era.”
The AMO meetings revealed a province-wide pattern. While Durham officials pushed for expanded hospital services and diagnostic capabilities, rural municipalities advocated for physician recruitment initiatives, and northern communities focused on access to mental health support. The common thread: healthcare systems struggling to meet local needs.
Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy, who participated in the delegation, emphasized the importance of these face-to-face advocacy efforts. “When we can tell the Minister about specific cases—like seniors waiting six months for hip replacements or families driving hours for pediatric care—it puts real faces to the statistics,” Roy explained.
The region’s pitch wasn’t just about immediate funding. Durham officials presented a vision for healthcare transformation that includes a more regionally balanced approach to service delivery. Their proposal includes expanded diagnostic capabilities at community hospitals, increased specialist services outside major urban centers, and innovative models like integrated health hubs that bring multiple services under one roof.
What struck me during these discussions was how healthcare has become inseparable from broader community planning. Ajax councillor Sterling Lee noted that regional growth plans must now consider healthcare infrastructure alongside traditional concerns like transportation and housing.
“We can build all the subdivisions we want,” Lee said during a regional council meeting I attended in July, “but if people can’t access healthcare, they won’t stay in these communities.”
This intersection of healthcare planning and community development reflects broader trends identified by the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which has documented growing disparities in healthcare access between urban centers and surrounding communities. As populations shift toward suburban and exurban areas, healthcare systems designed around major city centers are struggling to adapt.
The provincial response to Durham’s advocacy remains uncertain. While Minister Jones acknowledged the region’s concerns, concrete commitments were limited. The ministry pointed to previously announced investments, including funding for a new hospital in Bowmanville and expanded emergency department capacity at Lakeridge Ajax Pickering Hospital.
For residents like Maria Sanchez, a 67-year-old Ajax resident I interviewed earlier this summer, these future projects offer little immediate relief. “I’ve been waiting four months for a cardiology appointment,” she told me from her apartment overlooking Lake Ontario. “My doctor says I could go to Toronto and get seen in three weeks, but at my age, that trip is difficult.”
The healthcare advocacy efforts at AMO reflect a growing recognition that local governments must take active roles in healthcare planning—a responsibility traditionally left to provincial authorities and hospital administrators. This shift represents both an opportunity for community-responsive care and a challenge for municipalities already struggling with limited resources.
As one Durham Region staff member who asked not to be named told me, “We’re stepping into healthcare advocacy because we have no choice. Our residents call us when they can’t get care, even though healthcare isn’t technically our responsibility.”
The experience of Durham Region offers insights for communities across Canada facing similar challenges. Successful advocacy requires both data-driven arguments and compelling human stories. It demands persistent engagement with provincial authorities and creative thinking about how to leverage existing resources.
As our meeting ended, Regional Chair Henry looked out at the Durham landscape—a mix of historic downtowns, new subdivisions, and rural communities. “This isn’t just about getting our fair share of funding,” he reflected. “It’s about building healthcare that works for how people actually live in our communities today.”
For a region in transformation, that vision remains both urgent and elusive.
