TORONTO -- The New Democrats say Ontario hospitals are being forced to lay off nurses to balance their budgets, but the government insists there are more nurses than ever working in the province's health care facilities.

NDP health critic France Gelinas says hospitals in Cambridge, Sarnia, Sudbury, Ottawa and North Bay all plan to cut nursing positions because their budgets have been frozen for three years.

Gelinas says she's disappointed Health Minister Eric Hoskins won't admit the Liberals' budget freeze is having a direct impact on front-line health care services.

She says the first step in addressing a problem is to admit that you have one, but adds Hoskins "is not there yet."

Hoskins says hospitals have to adjust staffing levels as new programs are introduced and old ones are retired or changed, calling it a normal ebb and flow in the hospital system.

He says there are 24,000 more nurses in Ontario today than when the Liberals were first elected in 2003, noting 3,400 were hired in 2013 alone, the last year for which figures are available.