Ontario long term care homes and hospitals spent nearly $1 billion dollars last year to fill shifts with nurses and personal support workers from private staffing agencies.

Seniors advocates say the rising agency costs are wreaking havoc on the homes’ budgets.

“Every year since 2020 they’ve been spending more and more and in some cases, they’re spending 250% more for RN’s and 151% more for RPN’s than what they would pay people in their long term care homes,” said Lisa Levin, C-E-O of AdvantAge Ontario.

The data in a Ministry of Health document obtained through Freedom of Information, shows that agency use increased from 2021 to 2023 by every metric in hospitals and long-term care, in hours worked and in total costs.

A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones says agency staffing is a tool many northern and rural hospitals rely on, and the province is also working on adding more nurses to the system.