Advocates for privatizing our public services using Public-Private Partnerships (P3s) do not mention the experiences of competitive bidding in Ontario’s home care sector.  The simple reason they do not is that it has been a disaster. The kind of disaster that will happen when the provision of needed services are pushed from the non-profit into the for-profit sector.

What is it?

The competitive bidding model was introduced in 1996 by the Harris Government.  Home care agencies were required to bid every two or three years to provide services in each region served by Ontario’s 42 Community Care Access Centres (CCACs).  This included non-medical support services, social work and direct health care provided by visiting nurses and therapists.

With large for-profit companies bidding against local non-profit agencies, for-profit involvement in home care dramatically escalated.  In 1996, for-profit agencies represented 48% of the home care sector.  By 2001, that had increased to 48%.  Many long established non-profit agencies stopped providing needed quality home care in communities across Ontario.

The inevitable and constant turnover of employers also means workers are regularly forced to reapply for their jobs, losing their seniority and their union in the process. Workers have left the home care sector.  For patients this means rather than getting needed quality services in their homes, they end up in long-term care and back in hospitals, or are forced to seek private care at their own expense.

Liberal Response while in opposition

The McGuinty Liberals saw and understood the disaster of the competitive bidding model. In the run-up to the last provincial election (October 2003) McGuinty in a written response to an OFL question on home care stated:

“Our commitment to home care centres on ensuring that our frail and elderly have access to the services they need to keep them independent and healthy.  The current system is not working and we need to change it. We will work to create a system that is patient-centered and flexible.” (emphasis added).