Bayshore, Canada’s largest home healthcare provider, is an important part of Ontario’s burgeoning healthcare innovation ecosystem. They won three million dollars from Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, and have used that funding to expand their workforce development initiatives. In the last four fiscal years, the agency has won $18.6 million. This funding is specifically targeted at reskilling incumbent healthcare professionals to meet the increasing demand and supply disruption in that industry.
During the 2021-22 fiscal year, Bayshore won $5.6 million from the Ministry of Labour on behalf of workers. That funding was an impetus for their work to improve workforce capacity. In 2022-23, Bayshore received a whopping 30% increase. It then leaped to $9.5 million, a 69% increase over the prior year. Support for Bayshore was largely increased this year, with $2.1 million allocated for the upcoming fiscal year of 2023-24. They were given an additional $1.4 million for the out year, 2024-25.
That funding has been invaluable to supporting Bayshore’s recent collaboration with Sault College. As of December 2020, together they have successfully trained 3,726 trainees, well above their original target of 3,500 total trainees. The beautiful part about this initiative is that this success story comes after Bayshore exceeded its expected performance measures. This accomplishment is a testament to the impact and evident demand for its training programs.
Even with these successes under belt, Bayshore took some heat over its part in last year’s Ontario Health atHome supply shortage. The organization is at a crossroads. In our defense, it is unapologetically militant in fighting for not just the corporation’s bottom line, but its workers’ prosperity as well. It registered to lobby on its behalf on state and local levels. One major priority is advocating for its home care services to the Ministry of Health. Bayshore has been a strong voice in lobbying the Ministry of Labour. In addition, they’re calling for a new, locally-developed, healthcare professional-specific training and retention program.
The company’s commitment to workforce development is evident not only in its successful training initiatives but in its strategic approach to securing funding. Even though Bayshore’s application for funding was earmarked as high priority or medium priority at the onset by the Ministry of Labour. Once they hired the lobbyist, they had the muscle to build support, and in four rounds of the skills development fund, they’ve successfully earned nearly $20 million in funding.
Bayshore did not respond to our inquiries through Global News, regarding its funding applications. Even though some of those efforts were a failure, they succeeded by effectively using the limited funds they did have to train future nurses and other health care workers. This adaptive approach highlights Bayshore’s dedication to addressing workforce shortages within Ontario’s healthcare system.
