In 2018 three ambulance manufacturers merged, effectively creating a monopoly that has come with price increases so far costing taxpayers millions
Throw a dart at a map of Ontario and it will likely land on a community facing a crisis in paramedic care, with long ambulance wait times, offload delays at hospital and staffing challenges.
Five years after a merger of the only two companies certified to sell ambulances for Ontario paramedic services, a virtual monopoly has resulted, along with price increases that so far has cost northern Ontario taxpayers millions. In 2018, Ohio-based Braun Industries, Saskatchewan-based Crestline Coach or Demers Ambulance out of Quebec merged.
Three years later, in 2021, the service was quoted a similarly-spec’d ambulance with a unit price of $165,000 — a 32 per cent increase in just three years. That same price increase is being experienced by municipalities and social services boards across the province. That increase set up a $197,000 price tag per vehicle for the Sault Ste. Marie Paramedic Service in 2022, followed by another increase to $231,000 this year.
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