Queensway Carleton Hospital workers protest job cuts, ‘dangerous’ working conditions

Workers at the Queensway Carleton Hospital are demanding the reversal of another round of cuts to 101 positions at the hospital, saying they are severely impacting patient care in an already-strained sector.

About 70 hospital employees, their unions and supporters chanted “Stop the Cuts!” on the grass out front of the west Ottawa hospital on Aug. 19 in protest, demanding that the Ontario government increase funding for the sector.

In July, QCH announced it would cut 87 nurses, seven housekeepers and four emergency department personal care aides, citing insufficient funding amid rising operational costs, according to an Aug. 17 news release from the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

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Those who remain are scrambling to manage prolonged emergency department wait times, the workers said. As of June 2026, only 17 per cent of emergency patients at QCH were admitted within the eight-hour target time. At that point, the average wait time was 17.4 hours, a one-hour increase from May.

There have been cuts at numerous Ontario hospitals, where combined deficits rose to $400 million at the end of last year, with more than 1,200 positions eliminated since September 2025.

Ontario’s March 2026 budget cited a $1.1-billion boost in hospital funding, making total provincial funding $28.9 billion, but Ontario Hospital Association CEO Anthony Dale told media earlier this year that about $2.7 billion would instead be needed to combat deficits.