The municipality of Prescott-Russell says it's making changes that will mean its paramedics and ambulances spend less time answering calls outside its borders, particularly from Ottawa.
Communities bordering the City of Ottawa have long complained the current ambulance dispatch system of sending the closest ambulance to a call means they're spending too much time and money responding to calls in Ottawa.
They say Ottawa isn't funding its own paramedic service sufficiently, and surrounding municipalities are being forced to bear the burden as a result.
On Wednesday, United Counties of Prescott Russell council directed its emergency services department to make ambulances that have dropped off a patient outside that municipality unavailable to take another call until they've returned to their home base.
The new policy is expected to come into effect in the next two months.
"The continued irresponsible use of our ambulances to serve the City of Ottawa is a financial, operational and safety issue, causing increased response times and a lack of resources [in our area] as is required by the Ambulance Act," said François St-Amour, the warden for the counties, in a French-language news release.
Urgent calls only
Prescott-Russell, which lies east of Ottawa, said the number of outside calls for paramedic service has risen dramatically since 2016.
"We are simply asking the keep the resources [here] that we pay for," said Mike Chrétien, director of emergency services for Prescott-Russell, in a French-language interview with Radio-Canada.
"It doesn't take much for us to help in urgent situations, but not on a daily basis like what we do now."
The City of Ottawa pulled out of a tentative agreement with neighbouring municipalities in August that would have seen outside paramedics responding only to calls involving cardiac arrest or an unconscious patient.
Ottawa hired 12 new paramedics in 2016 and was in the process of training 24 more at its last update in September 2017.
CBC has asked both the City of Ottawa and provincial Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for comment on Prescott-Russell's latest move.