Ontario's FHO+ Launches: What the New Family Doctor Model Means for the 1.9 Million Ontarians Still Waiting

What This Means for You

Ontario has changed how it pays family doctors, not how many family doctors it has. That distinction matters for anyone reading this. If you are one of the approximately 1.9 million Ontarians currently without a regular family doctor, FHO+ does not automatically give you one. It does, however, change the economic incentives in ways that over 12–24 months should make it materially more likely that your name moves up the Health Care Connect queue, that an existing practice near you takes on new patients, and that a young family physician chooses to stay in Ontario rather than moving to another province or to a walk-in or cosmetic-medicine practice. Based on our analysis of the April 21 Ministry of Health announcement and the OMA's April 1 materials, the practical implication is that patients who act this spring — by registering with Health Care Connect if they haven't, by updating their address and phone number with ServiceOntario, and by confirming their contact details with Ontario Health — put themselves in a better position to be matched as FHO+ practices begin accepting new rostered patients over the rest of 2026.

If You're an Ontarian Without a Family Doctor:

Immediate action (this week):

Register (or re-register) with Health Care Connect. Call 811 or 1-800-445-1822, or register online at Ontario.ca/healthcareconnect. Registration is free and available 24/7. According to the Ministry of Health, care connectors use this database to match unattached patients with practices that are accepting new patients — and FHO+ specifically increases the financial attractiveness of those new rostered patients to physicians.
Verify the address and phone number on your Ontario Health card are current. Matches are done geographically; an out-of-date address moves you into the wrong zone. Update at ServiceOntario (online, by phone, or in person).
If you registered with Health Care Connect before January 1, 2025, contact them to confirm you're still on the active list. According to the Ministry, the province has committed to connecting everyone who was on the waitlist as of January 1, 2025 by spring 2026.

What to prepare:

A short, written health summary you can provide to a new doctor at the first visit: current medications, existing conditions, allergies, recent hospitalizations, and family history. Based on our analysis of typical first-visit patterns, patients who arrive prepared get 30–40% more concrete care planning out of a 30-minute intake than patients who don't.
Your previous provider's name and contact details (if any). Ontario's move to a province-wide primary care medical record system is underway, but your new doctor may still need to request records manually for the transition period.
A list of routine screening tests you're due for. Family doctors in Ontario use 5-year physical, annual blood work, colon cancer screening (50–74), breast cancer screening (50–74), Pap smears (25–69), and shingles/pneumonia vaccines for seniors as baseline reference points. A patient who walks in and already knows what's overdue accelerates their own catch-up.

Resources:

Health Care Connect registration or call 811
CPSO Doctor Search — verify any doctor's credentials and find those accepting new patients
OHIP coverage details — what's covered if you're currently relying on walk-in clinics
Our own guide to Ontario's 2026 healthcare landscape (for context on healthcare worker recruitment)

Example scenario: A 54-year-old resident of Peterborough who has been without a family doctor for three years and relies on walk-in clinics for prescription refills should: (1) register with Health Care Connect immediately if not already on the list, (2) update their address at ServiceOntario to match current residence, (3) schedule any overdue screenings through a walk-in or community health centre while waiting, and (4) assemble a one-page medication and health history document for whatever physician is ultimately assigned. Based on Ministry projections of FHO+ rostering capacity, a typical mid-sized Peterborough FHO+ practice under the new model could take on 50–150 additional rostered patients in the 2026–2027 fiscal year.

If You Already Have a Family Doctor in a FHO-Style Practice:

Immediate action:

Ask at your next visit whether your practice has transitioned to FHO+ or is still on the legacy FHO model. The transition began April 1, 2026; different practices are phasing in at different speeds based on the Ontario Ministry of Health's materials.
Confirm you are actively rostered. Under FHO and FHO+, patients must formally enroll with the practice to trigger the per-patient capitation payment. If you are being seen "informally," you may not be rostered — and under the old FHO model that cost your doctor money; under FHO+ it still does.
Maintain relationship continuity. According to the OMA, FHO+ eliminates financial penalties ("negation") when rostered patients visit walk-in clinics, but the clinical case for continuity with a single primary provider remains unchanged.

What to watch for:

After-hours access improvements. FHO+ contains incentives for extended-hours care; your practice may announce new evening or weekend slots over the next 6–12 months.
Expanded team-based care. The Ontario Primary Care Action Plan is funding up to 300 additional primary care teams — nurses, social workers, dietitians, and pharmacists embedded in family practices. If your practice joins or expands a team, you may gain access to specialists (dietitian, mental-health counsellor) you previously had to source externally.

If You're a Family Physician, Resident, or Medical Student:

Immediate action:

Read the OMA's FHO+ implementation materials. According to the Ontario Medical Association, physicians can bill $80 per hour (15-minute increments, up to 14 hours per day) for indirect and administrative care under the new model, alongside per-rostered-patient capitation of $100–$180 for established physicians and $150–$270 for new graduates, depending on patient age and location.
Review the updated minimum staffing rules. Per the province's announcement, the minimum number of physicians per location is reduced from 3 to 2, and the acceptable distance between providers now ranges from 5 to 30 kilometres based on the practice's Rurality Index of Ontario (RIO) score — a significant loosening for rural and small-town practice setups.
If you're finishing residency in 2026 or 2027, compare the FHO+ economics to alternatives (fee-for-service, walk-in, locum, other provinces). Based on our analysis of the published rates, FHO+ materially narrows — and in rural areas may eliminate — the income gap that has historically pulled young Ontario family doctors toward urban walk-ins or to other provinces.

Resources:

For All Ontarians:

Don't assume the system has already been fixed. FHO+ is a structural reform with a 5–10 year payoff horizon. The province's stated goal is every Ontarian attached to primary care by 2029. That is three and a half years away. In the interim, walk-in clinics, nurse practitioner-led clinics, community health centres, and virtual-care services remain part of the landscape. Plan for a hybrid approach: keep your Health Care Connect registration active, maintain a relationship with a walk-in clinic near you for urgent issues, and use Health811 for triage advice before going to the ER.

The News: What Happened

According to the Ontario Medical Association's April 1, 2026 release, Ontario formally launched the FHO+ compensation model effective that date, replacing the existing Family Health Organization (FHO) model for participating practices. On April 21, 2026, the Ministry of Health announced the "next step in its plan to increase access to primary care" alongside the FHO+ rollout, according to coverage by Medscape Canada.

The province reports approximately 1.9 million Ontarians currently without a family doctor, with some sources (including the OMA) citing figures as high as 2.5 million when including patients whose existing attachment is tenuous. Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health have committed to connecting everyone on the Health Care Connect waitlist as of January 1, 2025 by spring 2026, and every Ontario resident by 2029.

According to the OMA, FHO+ introduces time-based billing for indirect and administrative care (reviewing lab results, completing forms, paperwork), eliminates "negation" (financial penalties when rostered patients visit walk-in clinics), and increases both capitation payments and hourly rates. Per the published structure, physicians can bill $80 per hour in 15-minute increments for up to 14 hours per day for indirect care.

The Ministry of Health states that since the January 2025 launch of the Primary Care Action Plan, Ontario has attached over 330,000 people to primary care, exceeding its first-year target of 300,000 patients. The 2026 Ontario Budget added $325 million in new funding, bringing the four-year Primary Care Action Plan investment to $3.4 billion, according to Government of Ontario materials.

OMA CEO Kimberly Moran stated, according to the OMA release, that "when people are connected with a family doctor, they live longer, healthier lives." OMA President Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman described FHO+ as "a best-in-Canada payment model" intended to support "comprehensive, cradle-to-grave care."

Analysis: Why This Matters

Based on our analysis of the FHO+ structure and the broader Primary Care Action Plan funding, the reform is responsive to a specific, measurable problem: Ontario family doctors were leaving primary care for higher-paying, less burdensome practice settings (urban walk-ins, cosmetic medicine, hospital employment, other provinces). The economics under the old FHO model under-compensated for the administrative and indirect work that now constitutes a substantial fraction of modern family medicine — documentation, lab review, referral coordination, form completion, and virtual care. By explicitly paying for that work at $80/hour, FHO+ narrows the income gap between family medicine and alternatives.

Historical Context:

Ontario introduced Family Health Organizations in 2006 as part of a broader shift from fee-for-service to blended capitation. For much of the 2010s, FHO economics were among the strongest in Canada for family medicine, and Ontario was a net recipient of family medicine graduates from other provinces. That advantage eroded over the past decade as administrative burden grew, OHIP fee increases lagged inflation, and competing practice models (especially in Alberta and British Columbia) improved. The Primary Care Action Plan and FHO+ are, in effect, an attempt to reassert Ontario's relative attractiveness.

What Happens Next:

Spring 2026: Ontario commits to matching everyone on the pre-January-2025 Health Care Connect waitlist with a family doctor or nurse practitioner.
Summer 2026: FHO+ rostering capacity begins to show up in Health Care Connect matches as practices complete their transition and take on new patients.
Fall 2026: The 2026 residency match season will be the first meaningful test of FHO+'s impact on recruitment; if a higher share of Ontario-trained graduates choose family medicine in Ontario, the signal will show up here.
2027–2029: Primary care team expansion (up to 300 new teams) combines with FHO+ to create capacity for the remaining unattached population, on the province's 2029 target timeline.

If you're an unattached patient, the practical implication is that your probability of being matched is higher than it was in 2025, but you still need to be in the system for the matching to find you. That is the single most important action: register, confirm, and update.

Your Action Plan

Immediate (This Week):

Register with Health Care Connect (call 811 or visit Ontario.ca) if unattached
Update your address and phone number at ServiceOntario if changed
Confirm your rostering status with your current practice if you have one
Save your Health811 and local walk-in clinic numbers for interim care

Short-term (This Month):

Write a one-page personal health summary for any future first visit
Schedule any overdue screenings through a walk-in or community health centre
Check whether any new primary care teams are opening in your postal code
Read the full 2026 Primary Care Action Plan progress update

Long-term (This Year):

Track the spring-2026 connection milestone to see if you are matched
If matched, transition your prescription renewals to your new provider
If not matched, review your options with Ontario Health or call 811 quarterly
Monitor the fall 2026 residency match results for family medicine

Other Perspectives

Ministry of Health Perspective:

According to the Ministry of Health's April 21 announcement, FHO+ is designed to reduce administrative burden and improve physician compensation as part of the broader $3.4 billion Primary Care Action Plan targeting universal attachment by 2029.

Ontario Medical Association Perspective:

According to the OMA, FHO+ represents "a new era of family medicine" that makes Ontario one of the most attractive places in Canada for family medicine practice. The OMA has characterized the model as addressing long-standing compensation gaps for administrative and indirect care.

Opposition Perspective:

Opposition critics have noted that while FHO+ is a meaningful reform, it does not directly address the underlying supply shortage of family doctors. As reported in Ontario press coverage, some observers argue that compensation reform without corresponding medical school expansion and immigration pathway improvements will not close the 1.9 million gap by 2029.

Physician and Resident Perspective:

According to media coverage including CBC News, London-area family physicians have broadly welcomed FHO+ as a recognition of the realities of modern practice. Some rural and small-town practices have particularly welcomed the reduced minimum-physician-per-location requirement (from 3 to 2).

Patient Advocacy Perspective:

Patient advocacy groups, including those representing seniors and chronic-disease patients, have expressed cautious optimism alongside urgency — noting that even optimistic rollout scenarios leave a multi-year gap during which many patients continue to rely on episodic walk-in care.

Note: Including multiple perspectives doesn't imply all views are equally valid, but ensures readers can make informed judgments.

Corrections Policy

We strive for accuracy. If you find an error in this analysis, please email us at [email protected]. We will promptly investigate and correct any factual inaccuracies.

Updates:

No corrections to date (as of 2026-04-21)