SUDBURY—The Board of Health with Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) has passed a 2025 budget increase of 3.2 percent over 2024. PHSD has confirmed that the municipal per capita cost increase in 2025 will be $3.96 (per taxpayer) or a total cost per year of $69.40. PHSD has received a very slight increase in funding from the province, while an increases in employee salaries has helped lead to the increase in the budget.
Rene Lapierre, chair of the Board of Health for PHSD told The Expositor last week, “our operating budget for 2025 is $31,036,499, an increase in spending of $963,000 (in the 2024 budget of $30,073,079).”
The budget amount includes a funding increase to address rising operation costs and needs in the community, make investments in the agency for long-term efficiency and improvement and ensures sustainability of services. This budget increase is, however, outpaced by public health funding, inflation and growing local needs and health challenges which necessitates focused spending on core responsibilities under the Ontario Public Health Standards (OPHS).
“The biggest reasons for the increases have been due to our collective agreements with our employees, with most of the employee’s agreements being for three years with between a 2.5-3.0 percent increase every year,” said Mr. Lapierre. “And our funding has again been flatlined by the province. We have received an annual one percent increase since 2019, with some years public health receiving a zero percent increase for operations.” He pointed out PHSD did receive one-time COVID funding from the province.
“There have not been any significant funding changes to public health units from the province for probably the past 10 years,” continued Mr. Lapierre. “And the cost of everything else has gone up significantly, and the number of services we to provide has increased as well.”
“Our board is part of the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (ALPHA) and ALPHA, along with all public health units have submitted letters to the province requesting increased funding for services and delivery. The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) has also asked for a fairer and larger increase in funding to health units, and not having this put on the backs of provincial municipalities.”
Mr. Lapierre explained that while no one’s job has been eliminated, “in our budget we have eliminated the equivalent of 3.1 full-time equivalent positions. And to provide for some savings to reach our budget a few service changes have been made to eliminate some services that the province or other organizations can provide. We are pushing this work on to the province so we can maintain and deliver the most important services we provide.”
Public Health will responsibly reduce or discontinue certain programs that fall outside its mandate and are the responsibility of other agencies, or where the impact on community health is relatively small, to ensure resources are concentrated where they can achieve the greatest impact on community health.
“Part of our mandate has been air quality testing in arenas because (ice resurfacers) are used in an enclosed area,” said Mr. Lapierre. However, “Many municipalities now use electric (ice resurfacers) so the carbon is not produced and others have HVAC systems that monitor the air quality, something that the HVAC’s did not do in the past. Things have gotten much better in the past 35 years or so, so we don’t require a person monitor these carbon levels.”
“As we face tighter budget realities, my top priority remains protecting and promoting the health and health equity of the communities we serve,” Dr. Mustafa Hirji, acting medical officer of health and chief executive officer for PHSD, said in a statement. “While public health has historically offered services beyond its core mandate, this is no longer sustainable. We are committed to make the best use of our resources by carefully focusing on services that will have the greatest positive impact on the public’s health,” said Dr. Hirji.
As for the overall budget Mr. Lapierre said, “I think its decent. Last year we were looking at a five and a bit percent increase to provide the important services we do, follow our strategic plan and keep residents safe and healthy.”
