Ontario opens new applications for LTC builds
The province says it is all in when it comes to new applications for long-term care developments.
On October 20, Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips announced that the province would soon open a new call for applications for proposals to develop long-term care homes. The move comes as part of the province’s plan to deliver 30,000 net new beds over ten years.
With $2.68 billion in funding, more than 20,000 new beds are now in the development pipeline.
“Our government is fixing Ontario’s long-term care system and building more modern, safe, comfortable long-term homes for our seniors is a key part of that plan,” said Rod Phillips, Minister of Long-Term Care. “We need to build new homes and upgrade older ones so our seniors have a place where they can live in comfort and with dignity.”
The province has already made inroads on a number of projects using previously untested approaches. In Vaughan and Oakville, for example, it has agreed to sell tracts of otherwise unused lands to private developers in exchange for a commitment from the purchaser to build a care home on the property.
Meanwhile, through its Accelerated Build Pilot Program, the province is leveraging hospital-owned land and accelerated construction techniques to build long-term care homes more quickly, and in large urban areas where land cost and availability are significant challenges for prospective developers.
Through this most recent call, the government is inviting anyone interested in building and redeveloping long-term care homes to apply, including existing non-profit, for-profit, and municipal long-term care operators, as well as organizations new to the long-term care sector.
Applicants will be evaluated in the order in which they are received with successful applicants announced early next year. More information is available at ontario.ca/developingltc.
The government of Ontario is committed to fixing long-term care and building more beds to reduce waitlists, ease hospital capacity pressures, and ensure every resident can experience the best possible quality of life, supported by safe, high-quality care.
To care for the residents in these new homes and across the province, Ontario is investing nearly $5 billion over four years to hire more than 27,000 long-term care staff, including nurses and personal support workers. This will help bring the province to an average of four hours of direct care per resident per day.
Featured image: One of the planned long-term care homes will be sited on land adjacent to the Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. (Infrastructure Ontario)