The issue

Ontario’s 626 long-term care homes are not meeting the needs of their 79,000 residents. For decades, successive governments ignored dozens of reports and recommendations to improve care in nursing homes. Today, Ontario continues to underfund and understaff homes. An aging resident population with increasing complexity calls for increased care from staff with the right skill mix. COVID-19 has exposed chronic underfunding and under-staffing with devastating and tragic consequences.

What the evidence says
 
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ltc graph here

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Take action

Action Alert
Stop the move to for-profit health care, premier!
Call on the premier to stop for-profit surgeries in Ontario!
Action Alert
Enshrine a nursing home basic care guarantee in legislation, premier, set the path forward!
We call on the premier to honour and respect those who died, the ones who loved them and the ones who cared for them.
Action Alert
National standards for long-term care (LTC) are needed now
Let Prime Minister Justin Trudeau know that Canada needs national standards for LTC now!

Long-term care policy documents

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Senior woman looking out window

The proposed regulatory amendments to Ontario Regulation 246/22 under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act include provisions that would allow PSWs to administer drugs in long-term care settings, where it is not a controlled act. In this submission, RNAO highlights the following concerns about the proposed regulatory amendments:
1. resident safety
2. staffing issues
3. the “summary” format of the posting. We urge the government to include our five key recommendations in the regulations to improve care for LTC residents in Ontario.

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Nurse with mask looking out window

Submission to the Minister of Long-Term Care on proposed phase one regulations to the Fixing Long-Term Care Act

RNAO believes that the current changes to LTC legislation and regulations are necessary, but not sufficient, to ensure safe and quality care in long-term care. We now urge the government to implement significant regulatory amendments beyond what has been proposed. This is needed to address the same critical deficiencies that we identified in the legislation – deficiencies which hinder the FLTCA from making a real and positive impact on LTC residents, their loved ones, and staff.

LEARN MORE

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Senior woman wearing mask

Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee

In its submission to the government’s Staffing Study Advisory Group, RNAO calls on the government to provide a minimum of four worked hours of nursing and personal support care to each nursing home resident, each day. The Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee also sets out the appropriate staffing skill mix to provide for safe and dignified care for aging residents with increasingly complex conditions. The guarantee includes other recommendations for infection prevention and control necessary for the care of Ontario’s 79,000 nursing home residents.

LEARN MORE

  • Submission to the ministry of long-term care on proposed amendments to Ontario Regulation 246/22 under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act
    Image
    Senior woman looking out window

    The proposed regulatory amendments to Ontario Regulation 246/22 under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act include provisions that would allow PSWs to administer drugs in long-term care settings, where it is not a controlled act. In this submission, RNAO highlights the following concerns about the proposed regulatory amendments:
    1. resident safety
    2. staffing issues
    3. the “summary” format of the posting. We urge the government to include our five key recommendations in the regulations to improve care for LTC residents in Ontario.

    LEARN MORE

  • Submission for long-term care regulations
    Image
    Nurse with mask looking out window

    Submission to the Minister of Long-Term Care on proposed phase one regulations to the Fixing Long-Term Care Act

    RNAO believes that the current changes to LTC legislation and regulations are necessary, but not sufficient, to ensure safe and quality care in long-term care. We now urge the government to implement significant regulatory amendments beyond what has been proposed. This is needed to address the same critical deficiencies that we identified in the legislation – deficiencies which hinder the FLTCA from making a real and positive impact on LTC residents, their loved ones, and staff.

    LEARN MORE

  • Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee
    Image
    Senior woman wearing mask

    Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee

    In its submission to the government’s Staffing Study Advisory Group, RNAO calls on the government to provide a minimum of four worked hours of nursing and personal support care to each nursing home resident, each day. The Nursing Home Basic Care Guarantee also sets out the appropriate staffing skill mix to provide for safe and dignified care for aging residents with increasingly complex conditions. The guarantee includes other recommendations for infection prevention and control necessary for the care of Ontario’s 79,000 nursing home residents.

    LEARN MORE