Allied health professionals in Manitoba could walk off the job as early as next week Friday.
Earlier today, Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals (MAHCP) issued a strike deadline for 7,000 allied health professionals working in public health care across the province. MAHCP members have been without a current contract for 11 months.
Job action is slated to begin on Friday, March 7 at 12:01 am, unless parties reach an agreement before the deadline. Negotiations began in April 2024.
MAHCP anticipates that strike action would cause significant delays and service disruptions across the province for a wide range of services, including, but not limited to:
- non-emergent surgical procedures;
- non-emergent lab and diagnostic tests, including MRI, CT, Ultrasound, PET, ECHO, EEG;
- radiation treatments at CancerCare;
- therapeutic/rehabilitation services in hospital and community (ie, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech language pathology);
- patient discharge from emergency departments, medical units;
- home care services;
- non-emergent patient transports;
- midwifery appointments, with the exception of late-term or immediate post-natal;
- assessment and treatment for children with disabilities;
- non-crisis mental health and addictions services.
In a press release, MAHCP states that agreements are in place enabling public health-care system employers located in Winnipeg and Churchill, Northern Health, and Shared Health regions to schedule a minimum number of employees in each service area to ensure essential services continue in the event of a strike.
The press release says allied health is the last public health sector in Manitoba working without a current contract. January 2025 saw a net loss of allied health professionals in Shared Health, Winnipeg and Churchill, and Northern Health regions. In a December 2024 member survey, almost half of MAHCP members reported a loss of staff in 2024, while three in five said workloads had increased, and morale had declined. Ongoing allied health staffing shortages have been linked to rising wait times for key testing and health-care services including MRI, CT scans, and emergency medical response.
“A strike is the last resort for our members, but their workloads are still growing, and more than 1,000 allied health positions are vacant,” says MAHCP President Jason Linklater. “Allied health needs a strong and competitive contract to keep specialized professionals in Manitoba and recruit more.”
MAHCP members voted 96% in favour of a strike mandate in January 2025.