Queensway Carleton Hospital cuts 101 positions as emergency waits stretch to 17 hours
Workers protested job losses this week, saying staffing shortages are making patient care dangerous and emergency department waits are soaring.
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About 70 hospital employees, their unions and supporters gathered outside Queensway Carleton Hospital on August 19 demanding the Ontario government reverse 101 planned job cuts, citing dangerous working conditions and mounting patient care failures.
The cuts include 87 nurses, seven housekeepers and four emergency department personal care aides. The hospital announced the layoffs in July, citing insufficient funding amid rising operational costs.
Emergency waits tell the story of strain already at the breaking point. As of June 2026, only 17 per cent of emergency patients at QCH were admitted within the eight-hour provincial target. The average wait stretched to 17.4 hours—a one-hour increase from May alone.
Lynn Ogylvie, a registered nurse who has worked in the mom-and-baby unit for 32 years, said her unit alone would lose seven full-time nurses and four part-timers. "There are never enough nurses to start. Every day they're looking for nurses in every unit. I don't know what this means for the babies. That's what scares me," she said.
Staff describe the pressure as untenable. Rachel Muir, an Ontario Nurses' Association vice-president and registered nurse at QCH, said the workload has become dangerous. "Inside the hospital it's awful, it's untenable, it's dangerous; the workloads are dangerous," she said. "The feeling is not a matter of 'if' there's a critical incident, it's 'when.'" She noted that care providers are quitting after becoming "physically and emotionally destroyed," creating a cascading loss of capacity.
The cuts come as Ontario hospitals face a combined deficit of $400 million. Since September 2025, more than 1,200 positions have been eliminated across the province. Ontario's March 2026 budget promised a $1.1-billion funding boost, bringing total provincial hospital funding to $28.9 billion, but the Ontario Hospital Association says the system needs about $2.7 billion more to address deficits.
Care providers also report a rising tide of workplace violence. Muir said staff experience everything from spitting and broken bones to weapons—"guns and machetes"—stemming from patient frustration with long waits and inability to access care quickly.
What is QCH's projected operational deficit for 2025-2026, and how does it compare to the province-wide $400 million shortfall?
Has QCH modelled the impact of these cuts on emergency wait times and patient outcomes?
What is the Ontario Hospital Association saying specifically about QCH's funding request?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
The facts
How many jobs is Queensway Carleton Hospital cutting?
Queensway Carleton Hospital is cutting 101 positions, including 87 nurses, seven housekeepers, and four emergency department personal care aides.
What are emergency wait times at Queensway Carleton Hospital?
As of June 2026, the average emergency wait at Queensway Carleton Hospital stretched to 17.4 hours, with only 17 per cent of patients admitted within the eight-hour provincial target.
When did Queensway Carleton Hospital announce these layoffs?
Queensway Carleton Hospital announced the 101 job cuts in July 2026, citing insufficient funding amid rising operational costs.
When did workers protest the cuts?
About 70 hospital employees, their unions, and supporters gathered outside Queensway Carleton Hospital on August 19, 2026 to demand the Ontario government reverse the planned job cuts.
