Only 10 out of 19 Ambulances are on the road some days - there is a solution

If you or a loved one calls for an ambulance in Winnipeg tonight, you may wait far longer than you should. Not because paramedics don’t care. Not because crews aren’t willing to do the job. You will wait because the system is broken, and leadership at City Hall and the provincial government have failed to fix it.

We can’t keep pretending this problem will resolve itself. Winnipeg routinely has nearly half its ambulances off the road at night. On some recent evenings, only 9 of 19 units were staffed. That’s less than half the fleet. Calls stack up in a queue while people suffer, and families wonder when help will come. These aren’t delays for a pizza delivery; these are delays for strokes, heart attacks, and trauma.

The problem is not new. As a councillor, I asked the Fire Chief why the number of ambulances on our streets hasn’t increased in more than 20 years. He didn’t say overtime was cheaper. In fact, he struggled to answer and grew visibly frustrated with the questions. The exchange spoke volumes, and anyone can see it for themselves in the video posted at winnipegsun.com.

Overtime pay keeps ballooning. Staff burnout is high. We lose trained professionals faster than we can replace them. And still, patients wait. The City budgets for failure every year, knowing demand will rise, and yet does nothing to change the model.

The Province is no better. Manitoba should have taken control of ambulance services years ago. Healthcare is a provincial responsibility, and ambulance services are healthcare. Instead, the Province has left Winnipeg to limp along, while other provinces have invested in solutions. Ontario and Alberta expanded community paramedicine years ago. They gave paramedics more tools to treat people at home, diverting patients from emergency rooms and cutting overtime costs. Meanwhile, Manitoba continues to stand still.

Other cities have shown the way. Calgary chose to staff fully rather than depend on overtime. Between 2016 and 2020, fire and ambulance overtime costs dropped steadily. Edmonton restructured its transit workforce, added part-time operators, and saved tens of millions in overtime. These changes didn’t happen by accident. They required leadership and honest budgeting. Winnipeg has done neither.

If we want proof that change works, look at Ottawa. The Ottawa Paramedic Service did not just add ambulances—it created a new model. Advanced Care Paramedics (ACPs) receive an extra year of training beyond the basic two-year diploma. They can perform advanced airway management, give IV medications, and provide care normally reserved for hospitals. Ottawa used ACPs to build programs that shift care from emergency rooms to people’s homes.

This is not theory. It’s working. Ottawa’s Community Paramedicine Program provides in-home health assessments, medication reviews, and treatment planning. It connects patients with health teams and community services before a crisis develops. People can call to schedule a visit, not just in an emergency.

There are specialized branches of the program. Long-Term Care Plus supports seniors waiting for placement. Surgical transition teams monitor patients at home after hospital discharge. Wellness clinics offer screenings and education in Ottawa Community Housing buildings. A palliative care program treats pain and nausea at home. A Smart Transportation Program assesses low-acuity patients and keeps them safely at home 89% of the time. A Mental Wellbeing Response Team diverts mental health and addiction cases away from emergency rooms, even providing Suboxone for opioid calls.

The results are measurable. In 2024, Ottawa paramedics cared for more than 11,000 patients through community paramedicine, with over 16,000 visits. Emergency department use dropped 10%. Hospital admissions fell 7%. In long-term care programs, 9-1-1 calls dropped by as much as 32%. Post-surgical monitoring cut readmission rates from 40% to 6%.

That translated into better ambulance availability. For the first time since 2020, Ottawa met all its emergency response targets last year. Level zero events, where no ambulance is available, fell 79%. Hospital offload delays declined, meaning paramedics got back on the road faster.

These are not small wins. These are system-changing results. Ottawa didn’t reinvent the wheel; it just put one on the road and drove it. Manitoba could do the same tomorrow if it chose to.

Some will say this costs too much. But how much do we already spend on failure? Winnipeg shells out millions in overtime year after year. We pay for the consequences of long wait times—worse medical outcomes, longer hospital stays, and lawsuits. Ottawa’s programs, by contrast, cost as little as $8.40 per client per day in some cases. That is less than the price of a fast-food meal.

We should ask ourselves: do we want to pay endlessly for overtime, or invest in a model that keeps people healthier and frees up ambulances for real emergencies? The answer should be obvious.

Manitoba has dragged its feet on healthcare reform for decades. But the ambulance crisis is now undeniable. Paramedics themselves warn that the system is operating at less than half its capacity. When half your fleet is off the road, it’s not a staffing issue—it’s a failure of leadership.

Ottawa has shown us the playbook. Calgary and Edmonton have shown us the savings. Ontario and Alberta have shown us the benefits of community paramedicine. The evidence is there. What Winnipeg lacks is the courage to act.

The City cannot keep pretending overtime is a plan. The Province cannot keep ignoring its responsibility for ambulance services. Patients don’t care who funds what level of government. They care about whether someone shows up when they call 911.

We do not need more studies. We do not need listening tours. We do not need to “pilot” what others have already proven. What we need is for the Province and City to commit, together, to building a new paramedic healthcare system. That means taking ambulance services under provincial control, expanding training for Advanced Care Paramedics, and launching community paramedicine programs in Winnipeg and across Manitoba.

We cannot accept another year of excuses while ambulances sit idle and families wait in fear. We cannot keep pushing paramedics to the breaking point. And we cannot pretend that paying millions in overtime while patients wait hours for an ambulance is sustainable.

This is not just about efficiency. It’s about protecting lives. When someone collapses from a heart attack, seconds matter. When a child struggles to breathe, minutes matter. When ambulances are parked because no one is available to staff them, leadership has failed at the most basic responsibility of government: protecting citizens.

In a trial, when the evidence is clear, the jury delivers its verdict. The evidence here is overwhelming. Other jurisdictions have proven there is a better way. The costs are lower, the outcomes are better, and the public is safer.

The verdict should be the same: Winnipeg and Manitoba must abandon the failed overtime model and adopt a new way to paramedic healthcare. Not next year. Not after another round of excuses. Now.

Because one day, the person waiting in that queue will be you, your spouse, your parent, or your child. And when that day comes, you won’t care about excuses. You’ll want an ambulance at your door.

It is time to build a system that delivers. Ottawa has shown it can be done. Winnipeg should stop stalling and start working.