AI and technology in Ontario hospitals
Protecting workers’ rights and patient care as technology changes how hospital work is performed, monitored and managed.
Use OCHU/CUPE’s checklists to request information early, assess the impact on members and ask the employer the tough questions.
Choose the resource you need
Quick starting point
Short checklist
Core prompts on job security, employee monitoring and data privacy, plus general questions and agreement provisions.
Detailed review
Full checklist
A broader assessment covering workload, patient care, human rights, accountability and vendor risks, alongside the core topics.
briefing
OCHU/CUPE memo
An introduction to the union’s role, the agreement provisions to review and the information locals should request early.
Before implementation
Ask for answers early
Start with the proposed technology, its purpose and its impact on workers and patients.
What is being introduced, and why?
Request the vendor’s name, business case, procurement documents and implementation timeline.
Whose work will change?
Identify affected jobs, duties and classifications. Ask whether staffing or bargaining unit work will be reduced, reassigned or contracted out.
How will workers and patients be protected?
Ask about workload, patient safety, professional judgement, monitoring and personal data.
Who is accountable when something goes wrong?
Request clear oversight, error-reporting and escalation processes, and ask what ongoing role the union will have.
What technological change can affect
Expand each area for a key question drawn from the materials.
Job security and bargaining unit work
Will the technology eliminate positions, change duties, reduce hours or move work outside the bargaining unit? Ask about commitments on redeployment, retraining and job security.
Workload and job quality
Will promised time savings create more data entry, troubleshooting or error correction? Ask who will do that work and whether performance targets are realistic.
Patient safety and professional judgement
Which care decisions will AI influence? Request risk assessments and clear procedures for reporting errors, overriding recommendations and escalating disagreements.
Employee monitoring and automated decisions
What is being tracked, when and for what purpose? Ask whether the data will influence scheduling, hiring, discipline, attendance or performance reviews.
Patient and employee data privacy
What data is collected, who can access it and where is it stored? Ask whether vendors can use it to train AI, how long it is retained and what happens after a breach.
Bias, discrimination and equity
Could the technology reproduce existing inequalities? Ask how bias and discriminatory outcomes will be identified and prevented.
Accountability and union involvement
Who is responsible for each system? Ask for audit results, ongoing union involvement and a process to suspend or remove technology when problems arise.
Vendor dependence and service continuity
What happens if the system stops working or the vendor fails? Ask about backup staffing, data portability and the full cost beyond the first contract.
Before implementation
New technology proposed at your hospital?
01 / Gather
Request information
Ask early for the proposal, contracts, implementation plans and affected classifications.
02 / Assess
Review the impact
Use the relevant checklist sections to examine the effects on members, their rights and patient care.
03 / Follow up
Press for accountability
Document concerns, seek clear answers and clarify safeguards and the union’s ongoing role.
