Toronto Region Primary Care Workforce Planning Toolkit
           

The Canadian Health Workforce Network is a knowledge exchange network of researchers, decision-makers, and other knowledge users interested in health workforce planning, policy and management. Our mission is to be the Canadian source of health workforce information, making it accessible and useful in support of better health system decision-making. Our vision is: open, transparent and evidence-informed health workforce decision-making supporting workers, patients and health systems.
 
  PROJECT DESCRIPTION
 
 
 
The Toronto Region Primary Care Workforce Planning Toolkit is a fit-for-purpose toolkit to support integrated primary care workforce planning in the Toronto Region. The toolkit is the result of a collaboration between the Health Analytics team at Ontario Health Toronto and consultants from the Canadian Health Workforce Network. A partnership with the City of Toronto, as well as extensive consultation with stakeholders, decision-makers, leaders, and frontline workers in Toronto, informed the development of the toolkit.
 
The toolkit provides a body of evidence around the current (and projected future) states of population health needs and primary care service provision at a neighbourhood level within the City of Toronto. The goal of the toolkit is to support evidence-based decision-making, particularly with regards to deployment of the primary care workforce and other health system resources. The toolkit looks at population needs and workforce capacity at the neighbourhood, sub-region, and whole city levels. It takes into account variations in population needs, workforce service capacity, and existing assets, and also addresses challenges specific to Toronto, such as patient mobility, anticipated rapid population growth, and physician retirement.
 
This toolkit will help providers, planners, stakeholders, and Ontario Health Teams:
 
  • Understand more about the patients they are serving, where they come from, and their primary care needs;
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  • Estimate the primary care resources (MDs, NPs, allied health professions) needed for their patients;
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  • Identify future emerging needs that could be addressed by OHTs, taking into account population growth, demographic shifts, provider retirement, and changing practice patterns; and
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  • Inform strategies to transform care by testing a range of relevant scenarios.
 
 
 
  CITY PROFILE
 
 
 
The City Profile package is a collection of city-level outputs that includes a synthesis of information about alignment between physician service requirements and service capacity, population health profiles, estimated population growth, spatial patterns of utilization, Ontario Marginalization Index scores, indicators of unmet need for primary care, and a profile of the primary care workforce in the city. The package also includes maps that show estimated growth rates, numbers of physicians and primary care visits required and provided in each neighbourhood, and the gap between service requirements and service capacity. A series of maps that capture spatial patterns of utilization, as well as maps showing the outputs of retirement modelling, are also included in the package.
 
Download the City Profile
 
 
  SUB-REGION AND NEIGHBOURHOOD PROFILES
 
 
Toronto Sub-Regions and Neighbourhoods map 501 North Etobicoke Malton West Woodbridge 607 South Etobicoke 701 West Toronto 702 Mid-West Toronto 703 North Toronto 704 Mid-East Toronto 705 East Toronto 801 North York West 802 North York Central 906 Scarborough North 907 Scarborough South
 
The profiles packages include three static dashboards that provide stakeholders with in-depth information about the factors that shape the alignment between primary care needs and workforce capacity in each neighbourhood in the City of Toronto.
Read more here. The Neighbourhood Profile provides users with a snapshot of the primary care landscape in each neighbourhood. These profiles include information about alignment between physician service requirements and service capacity, the age distribution of residents and the prevalence of key health conditions, estimated population growth, spatial patterns of utilization, Ontario Marginalization Index scores, indicators of unmet need for primary care, and a profile of the primary care workforce in the neighbourhood.
 
The Service Requirements Module dashboard breaks down each neighbourhood's physician service requirement estimate into three key components: visits from neighbourhood residents, visits from residents of other neighbourhoods, and visits from patients from outside the City of Toronto. This dashboard helps stakeholders understand the drivers of neighbourhood-level service requirements and highlights the importance of considering patient mobility when examining primary care needs in the City of Toronto.
 
The Service Capacity Module dashboard breaks down each neighbourhood's estimated physician service capacity into three key components: visits provided by comprehensive primary care physicians who are not expected to retire, visits provided by comprehensive primary care physicians who are at risk of retirement, and visits provided by non-comprehensive care physicians. The dashboard also provides a summary of the primary care allied health service capacity available within the neighbourhood (in average weekly hours). This dashboard helps stakeholders to better understand both physician service capacity and the availability of allied health services in the neighbourhood, and highlights the proportion of physician visits considered to be at risk of loss due to retirement.
 
 
HOW TO DOWNLOAD NEIGHBOURHOOD AND
SUB-REGION PROFILES

Use the tabs below to locate the Sub-Region of interest. Navigate to the neighbourhood of interest and download the profile package. Alternatively, access the profile packages for all neighbourhoods in the Sub-Region by downloading the Sub-Region Synthesis file.
 
 
Sub-Region 703 - North Toronto
Neighbourhood NumberNeighbourhood NameAvailable Profiles
32Englemount-LawrenceEnglemount-Lawrence
39Bedford Park-NortownBedford Park-Nortown
41Bridle Path-Sunnybrook-York MillsBridle Path-Sunnybrook-York Mills
56Leaside-BenningtonLeaside-Bennington
97Yonge-St.ClairYonge-St.Clair
99Mount Pleasant EastMount Pleasant East
100Yonge-EglintonYonge-Eglinton
101Forest Hill SouthForest Hill South
102Forest Hill NorthForest Hill North
103Lawrence Park SouthLawrence Park South
104Mount Pleasant WestMount Pleasant West
105Lawrence Park NorthLawrence Park North
106Humewood-CedarvaleHumewood-Cedarvale
Sub-Region 703 – North Toronto  Sub-Region 703 – North Toronto
 
  INTERACTIVE RETIREMENT SCENARIO DASHBOARD
 
 
 
INTERACTIVE RETIREMENT SCENARIO DASHBOARD The INTERACTIVE RETIREMENT SCENARIO DASHBOARD is Coming soon
 
The Interactive Retirement Scenario Dashboard is a tool that can be used to explore different physician retirement scenarios that are relevant to primary care planning and decision-making. Information elements in the dashboard include physician workforce characteristics, the probability of 0 to 9 retirements from 2018 to 2023, and service capacity at risk of loss due to retirement under five retirement scenarios. Scenarios take into account the age structure of the physician workforce, age-related retirement probabilities, and age-related changes in service capacity. Once neighbourhoods with populations at risk of being underserved due to physician retirement have been identified, planning can take place to mitigate the impact of retirement.
 
For information or for a virtual data session for the INTERACTIVE RETIREMENT SCENARIO DASHBOARD contact the Health Analytics team at Ontario Health Toronto:
OH Toronto Health Analytics
OH-TorontoHealthAnalytics@ontariohealth.ca
 
 
  INTERACTIVE POPULATION GROWTH SCENARIO DASHBOARD
 
 
 
INTERACTIVE POPULATION GROWTH SCENARIO DASHBOARD The INTERACTIVE POPULATION GROWTH SCENARIO DASHBOARD is Coming soon
 
The Interactive Population Growth Dashboard is a tool that can be used to explore 84 different scenarios that are relevant to primary care planning and decision-making. Information elements in the dashboard include anticipated population growth, estimated service requirements, and alignment of service requirements and service capacity over time. The tool can be used to explore what happens to alignment when population characteristics and/or workforce capacity change. Once neighbourhoods with populations at risk of being underserved due to rapid population growth have been identified, planning can take place to ensure that appropriate resources are available.
 
For information or for a virtual data session for the INTERACTIVE POPULATION GROWTH SCENARIO DASHBOARD contact the Health Analytics team at Ontario Health Toronto:
OH Toronto Health Analytics
OH-TorontoHealthAnalytics@ontariohealth.ca
 
 
  FINAL REPORT
 
 
 
The final report is a slide deck that summarizes the process, inputs, outputs, and impact of the project.
 
Download the Final Report
 
 
  USER GUIDE
 
 
 
The different outputs of this toolkit build on each other to provide a comprehensive overview of primary care workforce needs. The User Guide outlines the steps to undertake when conducting this type of analysis.
 
Download the User Guide
 
 
  MORE INFORMATION
 
 
 
TOOLKIT ON THE CANADIAN HEALTH WORKFORCE NETWORK WEBSITE
For more information about health workforce planning and the tools used in this planning exercise, please visit
www.hhr-rhs.ca
 
Implementing leading practices in regional-level primary care workforce planning: Lessons learned in Toronto
Sarah Simkin, Caroline Chamberland-Rowe, Cynthia Damba, Nathalie Sava, Ting Lim and Ivy Lynn Bourgeault
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/08404704221117263
 
Co-developing an integrated primary care workforce planning approach at a regional level: overarching framework and guiding principles
Ivy Lynn Bourgeault, Caroline Chamberland-Rowe and Sarah Simkin
https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-021-00578-z
 
An integrated primary care workforce planning toolkit at the regional level (part 1): qualitative tools compiled for decision-makers in Toronto, Canada
Caroline Chamberland-Rowe, Sarah Simkin and Ivy Lynn Bourgeault
https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-021-00610-2
 
An integrated primary care workforce planning toolkit at the regional level (part 2): quantitative tools compiled for decision-makers in Toronto, Canada
Sarah Simkin, Caroline Chamberland-Rowe and Ivy Lynn Bourgeault
https://human-resources-health.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12960-021-00595-y
 
Canadian Health Workforce Network Webinar (December 2020)
Integrated Primary Health Workforce Planning in the City of Toronto: Inputs, Process, Outputs and Impact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WulX3QeKA2Q
 
 
 
 
This website is hosted by Ontario Community Health Profiles Partnership (OCHPP) www.OntarioHealthProfiles.ca, 2024.