Chatham-Kent will start the process to put a bid in to operate its own ambulance service when the current contract expires in 2029.
Council unanimously approved a $2.325 million adjustment to the municipality’s existing land ambulance contract with Medavie EMS on Monday, ensuring ambulance services continue through December 31, 2029.
The adjustment comes after Medavie EMS notified municipal administration that it intended to exercise a contractual right to terminate the agreement beginning January 1, 2027, citing escalating labour costs.
Under the approved motion, the 2026 adjustment of $225,000 will be funded through the municipality’s Labour Relations Reserve, while the remaining costs will be considered as part of the 2027 budget update and the 2028-2031 multi-year budget process.
Council awarded the current contract to Medavie EMS in December 2024. The five-year agreement, valued at $82,857,813 million, runs from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2029.
Included in the contract was a clause allowing the operator to terminate the agreement if the provision of service became unfeasible due to circumstances beyond its reasonable control after the third year of the term.
Along with approving the contract adjustment, council directed administration to begin preparing for a future request for proposals (RFP) process. Municipal staff will develop an internal bid that will be evaluated alongside any external submissions when the current contract nears its end in late 2028.
Chief Administrative Officer Michael Duben said the municipality has time to prepare and noted that operating an ambulance service differs from other contracted municipal services.
“This is a little bit different than let’s say waste management services, in the sense that we own all the equipment, we own all the stations, we own all the ambulances,” said Duben.
“The difference here is we don’t own the employees. The employees are employees of Medavie, and if we were to take them over it would be different than whoever is bidding because we have a different pension, so we would have to look at that.”
The union representing Medavie EMS workers also submitted comments to council expressing concerns about the company’s request for additional municipal funding.
In a letter to council, Laurie Chapman, Director of Member Services with SEIU Healthcare, cited staffing shortages and long hours worked by paramedics. Chapman urged council to consult frontline workers before making any long-term decisions regarding the future delivery of ambulance services in Chatham-Kent.
“As Council considers decisions that may shape the future of EMS in Chatham-Kent, we respectfully request that SEIU and frontline paramedics be consulted before any long-term decisions are made,” Chapman wrote.