Ontario Taking Next Steps to Improve Health-Care Access
September 19, 2025
Across our province, qualified health-care professionals are ready to contribute more to their communities, ensuring doctors’ offices and emergency departments are available for those who truly need them.
By working to expand scopes of practice for additional professions, our government is building on our progress to make it faster and easier for families to access the care they need, when and where they need it.
Our government is currently consulting with partners on proposed changes that could:
- Grant optometrists authority to perform minor surgical procedures in the office under local anesthesia, use laser therapy to manage cataracts and glaucoma, order diagnostic tests and independently treat open-angle glaucoma without having to refer patients to a physician.
- Grant psychologists with specialized training and education in psychopharmacology authority to prescribe certain medications, such as antidepressants, for the management and treatment of mental health conditions and addictions, as well as order and interpret select diagnostic tests such as urinalysis and blood work.
- Grant several regulated health professionals the authority to order and perform certain diagnostic imaging procedures, such as x-rays, MRIs and CTs, including dental hygienists, denturists, speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, chiropractors and chiropodists, which would further improve access to care.
In addition, our government has also provided direction to the Ontario College of Pharmacists to develop regulatory changes that would further expand pharmacists’ scope of practice, enabling pharmacists to assess and prescribe for an additional 14 ailments and help alleviate pressures on primary care providers, walk-in clinics, and hospital emergency departments.
As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, our government is protecting the health-care system, including making it easier for highly skilled, regulated health-care professionals to work to the full extent of their training and expertise to provide people with more connected and convenient care.