Grey County needs more ambulances. It'll have to pony up to get them, before prices get even worse.
There is only one Ministry of Health-approved ambulance manufacturer in Ontario. There used to be two, Demers and Crestline, but they merged in 2018. Since then, the price of an ambulance has shot up by two-thirds, or $118,800, according to Grey County Director of Paramedic Services Kevin McNab.
The county bought two ambulances in 2022 for more than $239,000 each, he wrote in a report last week. The next year, the price increased by almost $23,000. Now, they're nearly $296,000 each.
Even if the county orders them now, it could have to pay more by the time the ambulances are ready — which might be up to two years, McNab wrote.
Halton Region's paramedic chief Greg Sage said he's dealt with the same issues.
"That's the only time in my career I've ever purchased something ... and not known what the price is going to be when it's actually delivered," said Sage, the second vice-president of the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs (OAPC).
"Those issues that they've identified (in Grey County) have been replicated at every single municipality in the province," he said.
A spokesperson for the company blamed the price increases on skyrocketing costs of components and labour, and delivery delays.
Across its 597 suppliers, Demers has had to absorb cost increases that often top 10 per cent per year — about the same amount passed along to the customer, Zoé Laxague said in a statement.
"While we continue to aggressively negotiate the best possible prices for each component — leveraging our size and global production and market footprint, we have been forced to increase the retail price of ambulance vehicles by approximately twice the inflation rate over the reference period," Laxague said, adding that the company hopes to get back to "more normal price increase patterns" as inflation slows.
Sage said he doesn't think Demers is ripping municipalities off.
"They've actually done a couple of town hall presentations for us and shared the price increases that they're facing," he said. "So I've not been led to believe that there's any price gouging going on here."
Grey County staff told council that on multiple occasions they have spoken to Ministry of Health representatives about the log jam created by having a single ambulance supplier in the province. CAO Kim Wingrove said the county suggested to the province that the sole vendor be established as a “vendor of record” with a guaranteed price or that more competition be approved in the marketplace.
So far, they haven't heard anything concrete.
“There’s been no response that they might be taking action on this,” Wingrove said.
Sage said the ministry has been engaged in talks with the OAPC. He said "any levers" it can pull to encourage more competition would be welcome.
"But again, it's not really a government issue to try and get people to build ambulances," he said.
The Ministry of Health agreed.
"The ministry is not responsible for negotiating prices nor purchasing decisions related to land ambulances. That is the responsibility of the municipality who holds contracts with manufacturers and purchases fleets in accordance with the needs of their community," spokesperson Anna Miller said in a statement.
Miller said the ministry is willing to work with companies looking to enter Ontario.
"If Grey County has a manufacturer in mind, the ministry is open to discussing this and working with the manufacturer to explain the certification process that they would need to undertake to produce a certified land ambulance model, including testing requirements to ensure safety," she said.
That's another problem.
Ontario's ambulance safety requirements are among the strictest in North America, Sage said.
Sage stressed that he doesn't want to see those requirements watered down. But he said he's heard of two manufacturers who are currently having trouble entering the market.
"Their platform that they build in these other jurisdictions is nowhere near comparable to what is required here in Ontario," he said.
–With files from Chris Fell, CollingwoodToday
