Category: Ontario’s Long-Term Care Homes System

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Exciting news for LTC home team members and leaders

CARP Advocacy Working Group on LTC advocates for changing “institutions to homes”. While this is our overall mission, “homes” to us means residents experience joy, feel safe, valued, respected and where quality of life is just as important as quality of care for those living and working within LTC homes. Collaboration, relationship building, and teamwork are essential for strengthening care delivery. And so, we ask you to share the following announcement which will provide support and help to team members and leaders in LTC Homes as they deliver person centred and emotion-based care.

LTC Homes are Invited to Join the Ontario CLRI for the expanded Person-Centred Care in LTC Community of Practice

The Champlain Region Person-Centred Care is expanding to a provincial audience this June! This Community of Practice is open to all long-term care home team members and leaders in Ontario. Connect with peers across the province to support each other on your person-centred and emotion-based care journeys, whether you are looking to start your journey or strengthen your current PCC initiatives. The first virtual session is on June 10th, 2026 from 1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Hosted by the Ontario CLRI at Bruyère Health.

Learn more and register here

 

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Working Together to Improve Long-Term Care

Did you know that Ontario is modernizing its long-term care (LTC) data capabilities?

The long-term care sector in Canada continues to face persistent challenges, particularly in staffing. A key barrier has been the lack of timely, standardized data to support workforce planning, quality improvement, and policy evaluation. To address these gaps, the OnSPARK Data Platform was established in 2023 as a sector-governed, province-wide initiative.

In Ontario, this innovative portal and data platform is transforming how long-term care homes operate, plan, and deliver care. OnSPARK is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and led by McMaster University and St. Joseph’s Health System and supported by a collaborative group of sector partners, including Santé Bruyère Health, Research Institute for Aging (RIA), Ontario Centre for Learning, Research, and Innovation @ Santé Bruyère Health, and CanHealth LTC Innovation and Scaling Network.

With more than 200 Ontario long-term care homes already participating, OnSPARK is building a shared evidence base that supports more responsive care, more informed planning, and a stronger collective voice across the sector. As participation grows, so does the value of the insights—for every home involved.

Michelle Stillman, Director, Partnership and Governance, explains:
“OnSPARK is about turning data into meaningful action. By bringing together information from across the sector, we’re helping homes better understand their workforce challenges, improve quality of care, and make decisions grounded in real evidence. It’s a powerful step toward a more connected, informed, and resilient long-term care system.”

To learn more: Click here

 

 

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A Welcome Change!

 

On December 10th, 2025, Alison Jones, Canadian Press, noted in her article that Ontario was expanding new rules for cultural long-term care placements.

“The government found that their 2022 law known as Bill 7, which was criticized for allowing people to be placed in a long-term care home not of their choosing, also led to declining and mismatched admissions to the province’s cultural homes.

Long-Term Care Minister Natalia Kusendova-Bashta implemented a pilot project in April in 29 homes that serve a particular religious, ethnic or linguistic community and she says that has been successful.”

Read more:  

 

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Why is Ontario still building large institutional-style LTC Homes?

Smaller nursing homes are cropping up across Canada. While experts say they are better for residents and staff, why is Ontario going another route? Moira Welsh, Staff Reporter, Toronto Star, Jan 24, 2025 (Read more here)

In the article, Moira Welsh was referencing the latest report from the National Institute on Ageing, “There is No Place Like Home”  (see previous blog)

In December, the Ontario government announced plans to fund training of home staff in the practice of emotion-focused care, which aims to create better understanding and connections with residents living with dementia.

Dr. Sinha with National Institute on Ageing said emotion-focused care would have greater success in small households that do not resemble hospitals. And, he added, it’s not just residents who prefer it: Workers do, too. “The best way to achieve (the emotion-centered approach) is actually by building and appropriately staffing small home settings, because that’s where you really, really see this sort of care come alive.”

Please join us in our advocacy efforts to transform Ontario’s long-term care homes from ‘institutions to homes’ by contacting your MPP and/or city councillor, writing a letter to the editor, etc to make this transformation happen.

 

 

 

 

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COVID in the HOUSE of OLD

COVID in the House of Old is a storytelling exhibit that tells nine stories as shared by residents, family members and staff pertaining to the horrific events that unfolded during COVID across Canada within long-term care homes. Who can ever forget the pictures of military personnel who were deployed to save seniors stranded in COVID-ridden long-term care homes where frail elderly residents appeared dehydrated, unfed, and covered in urine and feces. In fact, 82% of the first wave deaths due to COVID were residents of long-term care homes. Residents were locked away from the world and health care workers were left unsupported during the pandemic. Read more here.

COVID in the HOUSE of OLD calls on all Canadians to act and specifically calls on the provincial and federal government to transform long-term care homes into a caring, positive option for seniors and a rewarding place to work. A petition is part of the exhibit and within the petition are 7 recommendations for action. One of these recommendations calls on the government to fund a Canada-wide pilot project of 24 new model LTC facilities, consisting of small, home-like units, constructed to limit the spread of infectious disease!

Take a look at the report, sign the petition, and do your part to make sure this never happens again!

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CARP Ottawa calls for change in long-term care now from Institutions to Homes

Media Release July 31st, 2023 

ChangeLTCNow

Most of Ontario’s long-term care homes (LTCHs) are still being operated as institutions. This despite four decades of systemic weaknesses that were brought to light because of the horrific tragedies of the pandemic.

We are calling on the Ford government to mandate and fund the ongoing transition of LTCHs from institutions to homes so that residents can live in dignity and with the respect they deserve.

Positive changes in models of care already exist in the province. For the last five years, CARP Ottawa and other like-minded organizations in Ontario have been working hard to highlight those positive changes. The models include: The Eden Alternative, The Butterfly Approach, Hogeweyk Villages, and the Green House Project. Other homes, such as the municipal homes in Toronto, have opted to use a hybrid model. They all use the same philosophy of care.

More awareness is needed. Residents deserve to live with respect and dignity.  Georgie’s compelling story, described in the video shows how The Butterfly Approach enabled her to come to life again, even though living with dementia. The other describes ‘The Eden Alternative model – how its philosophies care for the whole person and create a home – and how it values its staff, resulting in a remarkable 95% staff retention rate.  View the videos here:

https://changeltcnow.ca/video/ChangeLTCNow-MeaningfulCareMatters-v6.mp4

https://changeltcnow.ca/video/ChangeLTCNow-SueEllen-v4.mp4

There are many long-term care home operators in Ontario, other provinces and internationally, that have already transformed their institutions to homes.  The Quebec government has just announced it will be transforming all its nursing homes using similar approaches. These shifts result in significantly better outcomes for residents, staff, and families, both pre and during COVID-19.

The fundamental principle in Ontario’s Fixing Long-term Care Act 2021 – to provide a place where residents may live with dignity and security, safety and comfort and have their physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and cultural needs adequately met – is not being applied.

If we don’t begin to fix the long-term care home system now, after two years of horrific tragedies, they will be forgotten again for decades or until another pandemic hits.

For contact information re interviews with family caregivers, experts and staff, call:

Kathy Wright – 613-808-8978,
Chair, CARP Ottawa’s Working Group on Long-term Care
or
Marg Eisner – 519-771-1129,
Member, Working Group on Long-term Care.

www.carp.ca – a New Vision for Aging is Canada’s largest advocacy association for older Canadians promoting equitable access to health care, financial security, and freedom from ageism. There are more than 300,000 members nationwide.

We urge you to share this with your friends, families and contacts as well as with your MPPs (for easy reference the link to the MPPs – click here 

 

 

 

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1. Did you know that……

Did you know that the use of antipsychotic medications is lower in emotion-based models of care?

Queen’s University IRC (Industrial Relations Centre), published a paper in 2019, “Dementia Care Innovation in the Region of Peel” by Francoise Morrisette, which showed that one year after implementing the Butterfly model in long-term care homes, the use of antipsychotic medications was lower and aggressive events were less.

The same result was achieved in the Green House model. George Heckman, a Geriatrician and the Schlegel Research Chair of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Waterloo, said any long-term care homes that want to further reduce the number of antipsychotic drugs prescribed ‘potentially inappropriately’ can adopt the Green House model, which has been studied by his team. “The Green House model data shows antipsychotic use being much lower. They also have fewer hospitalizations. They have a better quality of life. The staff who work there have a better quality of work.” Read more here

Emotion-based model of care is one which has smaller environments, 8-16 residents/unit; communal dining room and kitchen; where full-time staff actually know their residents and where residents, staff and families are all valued as a part of the team sharing times of laughter, joy and meaningful activities.

What is most important is that your family member has quality of life in the years remaining. Learn more about emotion-based models of care at www.changeltcnow.ca and contact your MPP now to advocate for emotion-based models of care in all our long-term care homes!

 

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Where Is The Air Conditioning?

There is so much to be done yet the need for radical change in Ontario’s long-term care home system seems to keep falling on deaf ears.

For example, as reported in the August 2022 CARP ACTION bulletin, “Approximately 90 long term care homes in Ontario still do not have air conditioning despite promises and commitments by various elected officials including Premier Doug Ford.”

Bill VanGorder, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Policy Officer, comments, “This year there was legislation that all long-term care homes have air conditioning in place and many of them don’t. Once again, we’re seeing a regulation that’s in place to protect seniors and it’s not actually enforced.”  Click here to read more: CARP Action

Get involved and demand change now in Ontario’s long-term care homes: contact and meet with your MPP, write letters to the editor of national and local newspapers, organize a petition, and the list goes on.

 

 

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Municipalities can make an important difference!

Redstone, Malton Village, Region of Peel

Most municipalities in Ontario manage at least one long-term care home.  In larger cities like Toronto and Ottawa, they manage several homes.

Here is a brief recap of Ontario’s long-term care home system: (from a previous blog post – March 16, 2020)

There are 626 long-term care homes in Ontario (as of 2019); of these, there are 3 categories:

For-Profit: 58%,   Not-for-Profit: 24%,   Municipal: 16%

What are the commonalities?

  • Funding: All 3 types are funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care through the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) based on the same formula.
    In addition: Municipalities can opt to top up funding for their homes through tax payers’ dollars.  Some of the other homes have either foundations or fundraising programs that can top up their funding for capital expenditures or program enhancement.
  • Resident costs: In all 3 types, residents are required to contribute a co-payment for accommodation of basic ($1848.73), semi-private ($2,228.63) or private ($2640.78).  These costs are as of 2018 and there is a cost of living increase each July.
  • Legislation:  All 3 types are subject to the same standards, rules and regulations.

How are the homes managed?

  • The for-profit long-term care homes are managed by their corporate office through their Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s)
  • The not-for-profit long-term care homes are managed by a Board of Directors through their CEO’s
  • The municipal or city-run long-term care homes have a formal mechanism in place for their management through a committee of City Council and a staff director.

In our last blog post, we featured the innovation in city-run homes in Toronto including a joint model of funding.  The Region of Peel led the way a few years when it adopted an innovative model for its homes.  Homes in other municipalities like the Glebe Centre in Ottawa have also shown similar leadership.  Please make this an election issue in the upcoming municipal elections.

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Transformation is coming to Toronto city-run LTC homes!

A Green House Dining Room (copied with permission)

Toronto City Council is embarking on a new venture called CareTO, transforming their city-run LTC homes into social models of living from the traditional task-and-schedule driven model. This $16.1 million program is a jointly funded effort over a five-year period, with $12 million from the province and $4.1 million from the city.

A 12-month pilot program has been launched at Lakeshore Lodge Long-Term Care Home in Toronto and if it meets city council’s expectations, the transformation will be undertaken in all 10 city-run homes.

The pilot program will be evaluated by researchers from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto and evaluation will focus on resident falls, staff absenteeism and satisfaction reports from residents or their families. Read more here.

The CareTO approach redesigns living spaces to be more intimate and less institutional and care focuses on an emotion-centred approach to meet the needs of residents.  Existing staff receive additional training and education to transition to the new model of care.

Just think what could be accomplished in other city-run LTC homes across Ontario if this joint model of funding was adopted!  Let’s make this an election issue in the upcoming municipal elections!

 

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Ontario Election Day, Thursday June 2nd

The CARP 5
This is what CARP heard in the campaign:

CARP members will be glad to know that their issues were indeed a major part of most party platforms! The Report Card above illustrates where each party came down on the CARP 5 issues. Whatever the result of the June 2nd election, this campaign for change does not end. THE CARP 5 issues will be the first topics of discussion with elected Ministers and MPPs. Your support and the collective voice of all people is needed to continue to press for needed investments and improvements in our long-term care home system!

 

 

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