Policy tracker
Six real developments in nurse staffing and labor policy, newest first. This is a running list we update as things move, not an exhaustive legislative database.
Manitoba legislates nurse-to-patient ratios
Bill 28 makes Manitoba the first Canadian jurisdiction to legislate nurse-to-patient ratios, letting the government set them by regulation. An implementation committee is still working out the actual numbers.
Government of Manitoba, Bill 28
CFNU launches a national council on ratios
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions convened the first National Council on Nurse-Patient Ratios, bringing government, employers, academics, and unions to the same table.
Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
Federal ratio bill stalls in Congress
The Nurse Staffing Standards for Hospital Patient Safety and Quality Care Act of 2025 would set minimum ratios nationwide. Companion bills were introduced in the House and Senate; legislative trackers give both essentially no chance of passing this session.
Congress.gov, H.R.3415 / S.1709
Ontario loses its appeal on Bill 124
The Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the ruling that Bill 124 — the law capping public-sector wage increases at 1% during the years nurses worked hardest — violated collective bargaining rights. The province is repealing it and repaying affected nurses.
Ontario Nurses' Association
British Columbia's ratio agreement takes effect
Reached in April 2023 rather than legislated, this agreement commits $750 million to phased-in minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, with medical-surgical units the first to roll out in 2025.
BC Nurses' Union
Oregon signs the first true ratio law since California
House Bill 2697 set minimum ratios across 12 hospital unit types and ended the "buddy break" practice — the second US state, after California, to mandate ratios by law rather than by committee or agreement.
Oregon Health Authority
See the full regional picture
Every US state and Canadian province mentioned here, laid out by status.