London nurse promised $5K to keep working, still hasn't seen a cheque

As a registered practical nurse working in a London, Ont., retirement home, William Sorton says he only wants what was promised him and thousands of other Ontario nurses back in March: A $5,000 bonus for not leaving the job. 

But Sorton says he, and countless other nurses across the province, are still waiting to see any of the money the government promised as a retention bonus. The move was touted as a way to address a crippling nursing shortage as Ontario recovered from the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It makes me feel like it was just an empty promise, honestly," Sorton told CBC News. "Maybe just a political stunt by the Doug Ford government because it was brought up in March, before the election."

The money — $763 million in total — was to be paid to nurses through their employers in two instalments and prorated for part-time and casual nursing staff. 

Nurses had to be employed as of Mar. 31 to get the first payment and Sept. 1 to receive the second. Sorton says he filled out forms, which were signed by his employer to verify his employment. 

Although a payment date was never promised, Sorton says other nurses he's spoken with have received all or at least one instalment of the $5,000. Others, like him, are still waiting. He knows at least one colleague who's quit, calling the lack of payment a "last straw" after nurses backstopped the health-care system through the pandemic. 

Some nurses are quitting

"I've had colleagues that have said, 'You know what?' I'm not waiting around for this anymore. I'm leaving. So in that sense, it's kind of had the opposite effect."

It's unclear how many nurses who qualified for the retention bonus are still waiting to get their money.

CBC News asked the provincial health ministry for details about how the payout was happening and was given a generic statement saying the first installment was paid out to qualified nurses during the summer with the second payment is "expected to flow to nurses from their employer this fall." 

In Sorton's case, the government paid the Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA), an industry group that represents most of Ontario's private retirement homes. They are tasked with issuing the money to individual care homes, which were to then pay nurses who qualify. 

In a statement to CBC News, ORCA spokesperson Lise Jolicoeur said each claim undergoes a complicated vetting process with multiple forms to verify, from pay stubs to attestations from workers.  

"We understand how difficult the pandemic has been on front-line staff: their dedication and the care they provide retirement homes' residents each and every day is so incredibly appreciated," the statement says. "All eligible nurses working in Ontario licensed retirement homes will receive the retention incentive, and we're working day and night to get payments to retirement homes."

Sorton posted to a nurses group, asking who had received their money, and many said they had. 

London North Centre MPP Terrence Kernaghan said problems with the retention bonus underline the more significant issue of nurses being underpaid. 

"A small bonus that Doug Ford can use as a bargaining chip to get re-elected – and then not even deliver – is simply insulting to the people who have kept us safe during the pandemic and a health-care staffing crisis," he said.