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Link to Rural Plan Update Table of Contents

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This government believes that every Ontarian deserves to live in a healthy community.

And we know that improving the health of our communities - and their residents - requires more than providing greater access to health care. It's also about enhancing our natural environment. About providing a variety of recreational and cultural opportunities. About creating a sense of security, and a feeling of belonging.

Healthy communities are those which residents are proud to call home.

Our Rural Plan takes into account all of these factors. That's why this government is working with the health care community to provide more accessible services. That's why we're working with municipal and community leaders to encourage healthy lifestyles and improve public safety. That's why we're working with farmers, foresters, miners, communities and businesses to better protect our water and air and make sound land-use decisions.

Better Access to Health Care

A strong community protects the health of its residents and promotes healthy lifestyles. To improve the health-care services available to rural residents, we've developed a variety of innovative health care delivery models in partnership with the health care community and rural municipalities.

Goal

Improved access to health-care services.

Strategies

• Increase the number of health-care professionals in rural areas.
• Increase access to primary health care by enrolling more Ontarians in Family Health Teams.
• Improve access to health-care services that reflect the needs of rural communities.
• Invest in the infrastructure of health-care facilities.

Our Progress

• Established the new Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), which opened to 56 students in September 2005. More than three-quarters (78 per cent) of these students have lived in Northern Ontario for at least 10 years; 11 per cent of the students are Aboriginal; and, 18 per cent are francophone. As part of their curriculum, students are required to do clinical placements in smaller rural northern communities.

• Provided $32.9 million in capital funding and $67.5 million over the last five years towards the development of the NOSM, with campuses in Sudbury and Thunder Bay.

• Helped students studying in our northern, rural and remote communities defray the costs associated with attending medical school by committing up to $2.5 million in matching funds, through the NOHFC, to the NOSM Bursary Fund.

Supporting Mental Health Services Through the RED Program, the government provided $160,800 to the Canadian Mental Health Association, Cochrane Temiskaming Branch, and its partners, Cochrane District Community Care Access Centre and Northern College of Applied Arts and Technology Job Connect, to expand mental health services in northern communities. The project will assist in increasing the number of health care practitioners serving northern communities by creating a dedicated telecommunications network. This integrated health-care system will help reduce geographical barriers and increase access to health-care services. "This project will help us build stronger remote Northern communities by reducing geographical barriers, increasing access to health-care services and enhancing the quality of life for people receiving health supports." Judy Shanks, Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Mental Health Association, Cochrane Temiskaming Branch

• Committed close to $2 million for eight approved projects aimed at increasing access to health care services under the Rural Economic Development Program since fall 2004.

• Boosted the level of health care services in those communities designated as underserviced through the Underserviced Area Program (UAP). The UAP comprises 18 integrated initiatives to provide one-stop-shopping for communities looking for support to access health care services and recruitment of health care professionals along the entire continuum of care. Between April 1, 2004, and March 31, 2005, UAP helped underserviced communities recruit over 200 health care professionals.

• Committed to create 150 FHT's by March 31, 2007, which will provide comprehensive health-care services to more than 2.5 milllion Ontarians.

• Improved access to health care for those rural residents who cannot necessarily get to a clinic or a hospital by providing $9.5 million in telemedicine to bring health care to rural and northern communities. To date, this funding has supported over 16,000 clinical telemedicine consultations to more than 12,000 people in rural and northern communities.

CNIB Eye Van The Ontario government is helping bring comprehensive eye care to northerners in remote areas by investing in upgrades to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind's (CNIB) specialized mobile eye care clinic. The NOHFC is providing $141,000 to update this mobile eye care clinic. Each year, the CNIB Eye Van visits 30 rural northern communities, serving more than 5,000 Northerners and traveling more than 6,000 kilometres.

• Improved access to air ambulance services in the North by better coordinating all aspects of Ontario's Air Ambulance Services with the appointment of a new organization - the Ontario Air Ambulance Service Corporation.

• Designated a new district stroke centre at Huntsville District Memorial Hospital and five new stroke prevention clinics in Barrie, Brantford, Sarnia, Hamilton and Hawkesbury and provided $977,500 to assist the centres in establishing services across their regions.

New Cancer Treatment Centre in Barrie A new, state-of-the-art cancer treatment centre at Barrie's Royal Victoria Hospital will bring residents from a large geographical area (including Barrie, Simcoe, Muskoka and Parry Sound regions) improved access to quality treatment. The government has also committed to the first phase of the hospital expansion around the new Cancer Care Centre. When construction of the treatment centre and hospital expansion has been completed, the new facility will be publicly owned, controlled and accountable. Construction is scheduled to start in 2008.

• Supported the implementation of 22 new dialysis treatment systems in 2004-05 by providing $1.64 million in capital funding assistance and $781,000 in one-time funding, through the Chronic Kidney Disease Program. These stations are located in rural Ontario in Sarnia, Sioux Lookout, Pembroke, Grand River and North Wellington.

• Created 14 Local Health Integration Networks across the province to plan, integrate and fund the delivery of health-care services. These networks will allow local communities and health-care providers to work together to identify local priorities, plan local health services and deliver them in a more coordinated fashion.

• Investing in 22 new CHCs and 17 new satellite CHCs across the province. This includes 17 CHCs and seven new satellite CHCs serving rural communities to provide access to primary health care and community health programs. This is the largest ever expansion of Ontario's CHC system. In addition to the new centres, existing centres across the province will receive extra funding for staffing and program enhancements.

Community Health Centres (CHCs) are non-profit organizations that contribute to the development of healthy communities by providing education and advice that assist individuals, families and communities to strengthen their capacity to take more responsibility for their health and well-being.

Healthy Living

Better health is about more than improved access to services. It is also about safeguarding public health and protecting the environment and encouraging Ontarians to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Goal

Communities that promote healthy living and protect public health and the environment.

Strategies

• Build community partnerships with law enforcement officials to develop local crime prevention strategies.
• Develop strategies for reducing tobacco use, preventing obesity and increasing physical activity.
• Provide tools and resources to rural communities to meet government policies and regulations.
• Support alternative and renewable energy opportunities.

Our Progress

• Provided more than $148,000 to 11 rural communities to assist them with their crime prevention and community safety efforts, through the Safer Communities Grant Programs.

• Provided funding through the Safer Communities - 1,000 Officers Partnership Program. Sixty police officer positions, funded to a cap of $70,000 per officer per year, were reserved for Northern and First Nations communities. Officers were allocated as part of the government's plan to foster safer and stronger communities in Ontario.

• Established the Tobacco Community Transition Fund to help communities in Ontario's tobacco growing regions diversify their economies and assist tobacco growers to exit the industry. The Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board received $35 million and assisted more than 250 growers make the transition away from tobacco. Local Community Futures Development Corporations will administer $15 million to encourage long-term, sustainable economic development.
  

• Provided $19 million in operating and project grants to sports and recreation projects in communities of 20,000 or less, through the OTF. The result will be healthier, more physically active Ontarians.
  

• Provided $6.4 million in funding to projects in communities of 20,000 or less through the OTF to support community-based initiatives that strengthen the capacity of organizations in the environment sector.

Reduced-Risk Apple Integrated Pest Management in Simcoe The Ontario Federation of Agriculture was awarded $27,200 through the Ontario Trillium Foundation to pilot the use of reduced risk pesticides in the local apple industry in the Simcoe area. Six growers participated in the pilot project and the results were shared through meetings, publications and media. This was an innovative project that allowed “early adopters” of cutting edge technology to demonstrate that the pesticide alternatives actually worked and thereby to convince others in the industry to adopt the environmentally beneficial approaches.

• Developed the Healthy and Active Living Strategy that focuses on:
  - Promoting the benefits of healthy eating and physical activity to health and wellness.
  - Creating healthier communities by influencing the factors that affect health.
  - Reducing the barriers to healthy eating choices and opportunities for physical activity.
  - Targeting children and youth and communities, including at-risk populations such as Aboriginal peoples and northern Ontarians.
  - Engaging partners.
  

• Introduced a comprehensive new strategy, ACTIVE2010, to increase levels of physical activity among Ontarians. This initiative includes the Ontario Trails Strategy to assist in the planning, managing, and promoting of trails in Ontario.
  

• Introduced changes to the Nutrient Management regulation that will provide farmers with greater flexibility in the development of nutrient management plans and strategies. The regulation will protect our streams and wells through the development of risk-based standards for the construction and placement of manure storage facilities.
  

• Provided a total of $23.7 million to assist farmers to make environmental improvements to their operations and meet the requirements of the Nutrient Management Act.

Waste Management Feasibility Study in Ste-Anne-de-Prescott Through the RED Program, the government is contributing $31,180 to a project led by the village of Ste-Anne-de-Prescott and its partner the Township of East Hawkesbury. The project will establish a business case for the construction of a manure and biosolids digester that would address the village's need for anaerobic digester technology. The project will also determine the feasibility of constructing a greenhouse that would use the methane gas emissions from the digester as green, renewable energy. "Using manure to produce electricity is good for the environment and good for the economy. The concept supports local family farms through a form of joint ownership. This approach has never been studied before and the government's assistance is making it possible." David Sherwood, Coordinator, Economic Development Committee of Ste-Anne-de-Prescott.

• Committed to providing $67.5 million to assist communities to protect Ontario's drinking water: $51 million over five years for technical studies to ensure municipalities and others have the scientific information they need to support their water protection efforts and $16.5 million over the next year for Conservation Authorities, for staff and resources to work with local communities to develop source protection plans.
  

• Invested $12.5 million in new research to help ensure that everyone has the information necessary to move forward with source water protection.

Walkerton Clean Water Centre The Walkerton Clean Water Centre was created to help ensure training is available and accessible to water system operators in rural and remote communities and to determine the long-term needs of water systems operations. The agency helps water systems operators across the province to meet Ontario's tough certification and training. It receives $5 million in funding annually.

Regulation 252/05 is the first step in the government's proposed move to make public health units responsible by 2007 for ensuring facilities such as churches, community halls, bed and breakfasts and tourist outfitters have safe drinking water.

• Made the rules for drinking water more workable for owners of small and rural water systems by introducing Regulation 252/05 for systems serving non-residential and seasonal residential uses. The new regulation reduces the financial burden on owners while maintaining a high level of public health protection.
  

• Introduced the 12-year, $520-million Ontario Ethanol Growth Fund to encourage domestic production of the ethanol required to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard. The fund will provide both capital and operating assistance.
  

The Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) requires that gasoline sold in Ontario contain an average of five per cent ethanol beginning in 2007.

• Created an online, interactive map that identifies areas of the province with wind power potential. The Wind Energy Atlas is a prospecting tool that will help users assess the feasibility of a site for wind energy projects.
  

• Approved another nine renewable energy projects - including eight new wind farms and one waterpower project - that will provide Ontario with 975 megawatts of clean, green power and an estimated $2 billion in new investment. This will bring our total renewable energy capacity to 1,370 megawatts - and put us more than half-way to our target of 2,700 megawatts by 2010.

Wolfe Island Wind Power Project The 197.8 megawatt Wolfe Island Wind Power Project will consist of 86 2.3 megawatt wind turbines, located on Wolfe Island, near Kingston. It will generate enough power for 75,000 households (more than the Kingston metropolitan area). This project is scheduled to commence in the spring of 2007 and is expected to be completed by October 2008.

Sound Land-Use Planning

The protection of our natural environment is central to our good health. Clean water, fresh air, healthy ecosystems, attractive landscapes and the protection and conservation of cultural heritage resources and landscapes in our rural communities help to ensure public health and safety, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.

Goal

The capacity to make planning decisions that balance ecosystem health, social well-being and economic activity.

Strategies

• Develop tools and resources to implement planning reforms.
• Strengthen the province's agricultural sector by acting on advice from the Agricultural Advisory Team.

Our Progress

• Protected 1.8 million acres of prime agricultural lands, tender fruits lands, watersheds, rivers and forests by curbing urban sprawl with the passage of the Greenbelt Act, 2005.
  

• Created the Greenbelt Foundation to help preserve the natural heritage, protect prime agricultural land and support many recreational opportunities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The foundation received a one-time grant of $25 million from the province.
  

• Revised the Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) to better embody good planning practices and better recognize the complex relationships among economic, environmental and social factors in land-use planning. These revisions reflect the advice of the Agricultural Advisory Team regarding the long-term protection of the province's agricultural resources.
  

• Proposed revisions, under advice from the Agricultural Advisory Team, to the Minimum Distance Separation Formulae, a land-use planning tool used to identify appropriate setbacks between livestock operations and other land uses to reduce conflicts related to odour.

Hawkesbury Lagoon Clean-Up The remediation of Hawkesbury's wet lagoon is an important first step in revitalizing a key waterfront property located in the central core of the town. The government is protecting the environment and the health of residents by investing $280,000 in the first phase of the clean-up, through ReNew Ontario. The post-construction site will provide green space for the use and enjoyment of the citizens of Hawkesbury.

The Natural Spaces Program enhances the tools available for projects that protect natural heritage and restore lands and forests in southern Ontario.

• Encouraged landowners to voluntarily contribute to good stewardship of southern Ontario's rich natural heritage through the Natural Spaces Program in conjunction with the Natural Spaces Leadership Alliance. To help secure lands, the program provided a $6-million grant to the Ontario Heritage Trust, in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, to acquire significant natural heritage properties. The program also supports increased restoration of our lands and forests with a $2-million grant to the Trees Ontario Foundation.
  

• Contributed to sound land use planning and forestry development initiatives by providing a one-time $2-million grant to the Forestry Futures Trust. Eligible First Nations may apply for assistance for projects such as data collection and analysis, collection and mapping of native traditional knowledge, business planning and feasibility studies.
  

• Encouraged property owners to rehabilitate eligible brownfields by making it possible for municipalities to provide these individuals with tax assistance, through the Brownfields Financial Tax Incentive Program. This initiative commits $5 million annually from 2004-05 through to 2007-08.

Chatham Kent Brownfield and Bluefield Strategy The Municipality of Chatham Kent earned a Brownie Award from the Canadian Urban Institute for its strategy to overcome the key disincentives to the redevelopment of brownfield and bluefield (unused institutional or community facilities) sites. The province granted approval for its Community Improvement Plan allowing the municipality to provide incentives that will encourage the rehabilitation and redevelopment of vacant and underutilized industrial and institutional sites.

Brownfields are lands on which industrial or commercial activity took place in the past.

Link to Rural Plan Update Table of Contents

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