Alliance for Healthier Communities / Alliance pour des communautés en santé

02/04/2026

Alliance members are leading partners in the Ontario government’s focus on expanding and transforming primary care and the steps being taken to grow team-based models across the province.

For Ontario's Budget 2026, we want to highlight two practical, high-impact approaches that community clinicians are using successfully to increase attachment and improve efficiency: the Neighbourhood Health Home and Link Workers. To support the work underpinning these approaches and the goal of 100% primary care attachment by 2029, the Alliance asked the Government of Ontario to consider the following priorities for Budget 2026:

-- Support the growth of the Neighbourhood Health Home approach through the IPCT expansion (no further investment required) and expand Link Worker roles across primary care teams, including embedding link workers as a mandatory part of IPCT expansion to increase capacity and attachment.

-- Expedite recruitment and retention funding by unlocking Years 2 and 3 immediately so teams can stabilize staffing and close long-standing wage gaps; this includes $430.9 million over five years for the primary care sector, with $164.5 million needed for Alliance members.

-- Invest in digital tools that improve attachment and efficiency, including interoperable systems, online appointment booking, and innovations such as AI-enabled scribing.

-- Modernize and accelerate the capital approval process for community-based primary care organizations to help expand local capacity and improve access.

-- Continue stabilization and operational funding, including a 5% base budget increase ($33.7 million) for community-governed primary health care organizations.

-- Investments in supportive housing ($60 million over two years) to create 5,000 new supportive housing units, as part of the continuum of care for mental health and addictions to support the work of HART Hubs and to help address homelessness and the toxic drug supply across Ontario.



Read the Alliance's full submission to Ontario Finance Minister Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy here: https://www.allianceon.org/news/Alliances-2026-Pre-Budget-Recommendations-Strengthening-Primary-Health-Care-and-Expanding

01/26/2026

Check out this trauma-informed training for providers being offered by Kingston Community Health Centres. Teach Resilience is an accredited program that emphasizes trauma-based and informed approaches for every single patient across primary health care.

Kingston Community Health Centres is transforming how health care is delivered!

Through its social enterprise, Teach Resilience, KCHC is now offering trauma-informed training beyond KFL&A, helping community health centres, primary care providers, schools, and social service agencies deliver more responsive, equitable, and client-centred care.

“Trauma-informed care isn’t just for certain patients—it should be a universal precaution,” says Dr. Mary Rowland, a key medical advisor and facilitator at Teach Resilience. “Understanding a person’s upbringing and life experiences is essential to addressing their current health needs.”

The one-day, in-person training is offered as a Queen’s University–accredited course and has already been attended by over 2,000 health care providers in the KFL&A region. The goal is to make trauma-informed approaches a standard practice across Ontario.

If you want to learn more or bring this training to your team visit: https://www.teachresilience.ca/

Alliance for Healthier Communities / Alliance pour des communautés en santé

12/02/2025

For , make a difference close to home in Ontario w/ your donation, by considering a gift to the organization near you. Funds help w/ community programs, , access to transportation, resources for marginalized people and more! Find an org + their website here to donate ---> www.allianceon.org/find-a-centre

11/20/2025

Today, November 20, is Transgender Day of Remembrance, a difficult but important day for anyone who has lost a loved one to anti-trans violence and hate, or who is a survivor of such violence. The Alliance and its members stand solemnly with trans and non-binary communities to fight back.

11/07/2025

Family & community caregivers are an essential part of your care team. Caregiver inclusion reduces provider stress & facilitates communication. Join this webinar at noon on Nov 12 to learn about the The Ontario Caregiver Organization Support Hub & how it can help your whole care team: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/jpEK0TNfRXKshwexAbM7Ug #/registration

"You can come up with a care plan and think it's the greatest thing in the world, but if their caregiver can't do it, then it's pointless. I truly mean that we cannot care for the patients without the caregivers." — Chantelle Mensink, Nurse Practitioner, New Vision Family Health Team Family and ca...

10/27/2025

Happening at 11am today!! Interested in social prescribing? Check it out TODAY!

📣 Announcing our amazing speakers for our upcoming virtual webinar, Social Prescribing Through a Health Promotion Lens on Monday, October 27th from 11am - 12pm EST!

▪️Maria Morais, Supervisor, Mental Health Promotion, Region of Peel: Social Prescribing in Action: Region of Peel’s Experiences and Public Health Opportunities

▪️Kobisha Rajeswaran, Master of Public Health Practicum Student, Novo Nordisk Network for Healthy Populations: Leveraging Community Asset Mapping for Future Social Prescribing in Peel Region

▪️Natasha Beaudin, Social Prescribing Project Lead, Alliance for Healthier Communities: Health Equity Focused Social Prescribing

✅ Register today: https://tinyurl.com/3yptp8rc.

👋 We can’t wait to see you there!

10/21/2025

Drop-in Tomorrow! (or register online)
Stronger Together – Mental Health Workshop for Newcomers & Refugees

📅 October 22 | 🕙 10:00am–12:00pm
Feeling overwhelmed adjusting to life in a new country? You're not alone. Join us for a free workshop to learn stress management tools and connect in a safe, welcoming space.

📍Register at www.nfchc.ca/programregistration
or call Bertha at 905-356-4222 x227

10/21/2025

💚 It's Community Health and Wellbeing Month!

🌱 South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre is proud to partner with the African, Caribbean and Black (ACB) Wellness and Resource Centre to increase access to community-based mental health for Black children and youth.

✨Recently, we had the privilege of meeting over breakfast with Toni Jacobs, Executive Director of the ACB Wellness and Resource Centre. Together, we are building a partnership to increase access to integrated, community-based mental health supports for Black children and youth.

🤝 We’re standing together with Black and other racialized communities to address barriers and ensure everyone has access to equitable health and community care. Partnerships like this one are key to advancing equity, resilience, and well-being across our communities.

10/21/2025

Health isn't just about medicine. Our social prescribing program has helped people in our community connect with food supports, social groups, support groups, transportation, digital equity, volunteering and so much more, leading to improvements to their mental health and a greater capacity to self-manage their health, as well as decreased loneliness and an increased sense of connectedness
and belonging..

10/06/2025

10/06/2025

Here's a great example of some of the things a community health organization brings to its community members, to promote their health and wellbeing 12 months of the year!! Let's celebrate by for in Ontario!

October is Community Health and Wellbeing Month and Community Support Month - its an opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness about the vital importance of these healthcare services and the amazing work of the West Elgin Community Health Centre.

Standing Together for Community Health
Standing Together for Health Equity

Link to send a note of appreciation to the Centre:
https://wechc.on.ca/contact-us/thank-a-staff-member

10/01/2025

Welcome to Community Health and Wellbeing Month! We’re excited to join with Alliance members and their partners throughout October to highlight the ways we’re , FOR and accessible, culturally safe and WITH, our partners across the health system. When we stand together, we’re stronger for community health and wellbeing across Ontario! Follow the hashtags and throughout the month to see what everyone is doing and how community health is being celebrated across the province!