The Ford government is facing questions over why an Ontario company, involved in a shortage of medical supplies for elderly and palliative care patients, received millions of dollars from a controversial provincial fund to reskill workers.
Government records show Bayshore Home Care Solutions received more than $18 million through multiple rounds of the Skills Development Fund, a period it was served by several lobbyists.
A recent report from Ontario’s auditor general said the government’s handling of the skills development fund was “not fair, transparent or accountable,” that the majority of applications selected were ranked low or medium by the Ministry of Labour and that more than 60 of the lower-scoring applicants were approved after hiring a lobbyist.
The Ministry of Labour did not fully address questions about how Bayshore’s funding applications were scored before the government approved the funding, or if it was among the medium and low-scoring applicants described by the auditor general.
A spokesperson for the provincial government said Bayshore had partnered with Sault College for its program, trained 3,600 people and exceeded its performance indicators.
Ontario Liberal MPP Adil Shamji, however, expressed concern that Bayshore, which faced questions about last year’s Ontario Health atHome supply shortage, had been given the training funds.
“One year ago, home care and palliative care patients in our province were brought to their knees because of a massive medical equipment and supply shortage,” he said.
“To fast forward to a year later and think the same firm got millions of dollars in skills development funding and all of a sudden proved to be the most worthy candidate certainly raises some very serious questions.”
Bayshore told Global News it had not been successful in all its applications but had used the funds it did receive to train nurses to help the province tackle wait times.
“Partnering with reputable Ontario post-secondary institutions and recognized leaders in the field, Bayshore HealthCare is utilizing the Skills Development Fund to provide training for more than 3,700 health care workers, like PSWs and nurses,” they wrote in a statement.
“While not all our SDF applications were successful, those that were directly added health care capacity in Ontario — which means more patient care and shorter waits for everyone.”
Bayshore receives Skills Development Fund money
Throughout the skills development process – from application to approval – Bayshore was armed with a team of lobbyists making the company’s case to the Ford government.
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The Ontario lobbyists registry showed government relations firms were registered to represent Bayshore on a number of fronts, including to highlight its home care services to the Ministry of Health and, in one listing, to lobby the Ministry of Labour “to develop a training and retention program for health care professionals.”
The government said the firm received funding in the first four rounds of the skills development fund, although Bayshore highlighted that not all its applications were successful.
The company netted $5.6 million from the Ministry of Labour in the 2021-22 year, after its initial application. The next year, government records show Bayshore then received $9.5 million in 2022-23 – a 69 per cent increase from its first attempt.
In 2023-24, the company was given another $2.1 million from the fund. Finally, the latest public accounts show $1.4 million in the 2024-25 year, bringing the total to $18.6 million in funding that Bayshore received from the Ministry of Labour to reskill workers.
Through four rounds of skills development funding, the government said Bayshore set out to train 3,500 people and successfully trained 3,726 in exchange for almost $20 million in funding.
In her report, the auditor general found that lower-scoring applications which hired lobbyists had received $126 million in funding, compared to $58 million for high-scoring applications with lobbyists.
The Ministry of Labour told Global News that “in the latest round, the project received a ‘high’ evaluation” but did not address questions asking if that meant that in previous rounds its projects had scored medium or low.
Shamji said the government should release the scores for Bayshore and the other applications it received.
“This is a government that owes some transparency and accountability to the people of Ontario,” he said.
“We have every right to be extremely skeptical about the about the awards that have occurred under the skills development fund, especially this one. And so we have right to demand, and to expect, that these results, uh and the scores of this application, as with all of the other ones, be released so that Ontario taxpayers can see if they’re getting their money’s worth.”
Bayshore part of Ontario Health atHome troubles
Around the same time Bayshore received its first round of funding through the skills development fund, the company was also bidding for a major role with Ontario Health atHome, a new centralized agency the government was creating.
Shortly after its launch in 2024, Ontario Health atHome began encountering problems, including major issues delivering supplies to patients in severe pain.
The government ultimately had to refund around $219,000 to patients who had been forced to buy their own supplies. The majority of medical issues, they said, were with Bayshore clients.
An investigation into the issue from Ontario’s Patient Ombudsman found “the supply disruption was not the fault of any one single agency, individual, or vendor,” but did say “vendors were not fully ready to transition to the new model.”
At the time, Health Minister Sylvia Jones said it was “unacceptable” that the supply system had stopped working.
“We have been working with Ontario Health atHome to ensure that no patients, no patients’ families, no clinicians are impacted by a logistics issue,” she said in October 2024.
“I want to assure the people of Ontario that we have been on this issue since we first learned that there were shortages. … We know this is unacceptable and we are not going to allow this to continue.”
Back in 2024, Bayshore said its “entire team is focused on mitigating these challenges and ensuring continuity of care for every patient under our services.”
Bayshore said it was restoring and improving tracking systems, dedicating additional staff to manage the distribution of urgent supplies, improving communications and sourcing alternative supplies.
Shamji said he was concerned the company had received so much public funding, while high-scoring applications for training funds had been denied.
“I have amazing organizations, even in my own riding, that put forward very strong applications for the Skills Development Fund that were rejected,” he said.
“And then you have another organization that has a track record of not delivering — and frankly not delivering in a really spectacular way.”
