Mayor Elizabeth Roy has released the following statement on the Province’s 2024 Budget.

The 2024 Ontario Budget released on March 26 is now the third consecutive provincial budget to be tabled without funding for an urgently needed new hospital in Durham Region.

This is unacceptable, especially considering Premier Doug Ford’s statement made Feb. 15 that “there’s going to be a Whitby hospital” and noting that a planning grant would be issued “very shortly.”

I remain hopeful that this funding will be announced promptly, and I will continue to advocate at every opportunity.

The Town of Whitby launched a community advocacy campaign on Feb. 7 focused on the need for a new hospital, and our community has rallied behind this cause.

Thousands of Durham residents have signed our call-to-action letter or contributed a personal story about why a new hospital matters to them.

I share the deep frustration and disappointment of our residents, who are telling the Province loud and clear that we need a new hospital – and whose voices are being ignored.

In January 2022, an independent, expert panel selected a site in Whitby as the preferred location for a new Durham hospital. Since then, we have seen zero action from the Province.

A new hospital is not guaranteed until the Ontario government provides the $3 million planning grant needed to start the project.

Durham is one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, with a health care system that is already stretched to the limit.

The Province has mandated that Whitby build 18,000 new homes by 2031, but isn’t investing in the necessary infrastructure to support this growth.

As Whitby’s mayor, as a Whitby resident, as a longtime healthcare worker, a mother and a grandmother, I urge the Province to do the right thing and bring more healthcare close to home in Durham. 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Jillian Follert
Public Affairs Coordinator, Office of the Mayor
Phone: 289.314.9101
Email: follertj@whitby.ca

Erin Mikaluk
Manager, Communications and Creative Services, Town of Whitby
Phone: 289.314.6913
Email: mikaluke@whitby.ca