The ministry through its Compliance Management Program, monitors all long term care (LTC) homes in Ontario on an on-going basis, and inspects their performance at least once a year.  The inspections help ensure that homes comply with the legislation, regulations, standards and policies that are outlined for LTC homes in the province.

The ministry also investigates complaints and critical incidents reported by family members, residents, the homes or the public.

Inspections are conducted by ministry inspectors who are health care professionals - registered nurses, registered dieticians and certified public health inspectors.  Inspections are typically unannounced.

• An inspection report is sent to the home after each inspection.
• All long-term care homes must post a copy of the most recent inspection report in a public place.  You can request a copy of the report directly from the home.

• When ministry inspectors find that a home does not meet one or more of the requirements, they issue a “finding” of unmet standard(s)/criteria to the operator of the home.
• A citation is issued when a home is in violation of the legislation or regulations.

• If a home is issued a finding or citation, the home operator must submit a Plan of Corrective Action to the ministry for approval.  Once the plan is approved, the home must make the changes within a specific length of time.
• In some cases, the ministry will conduct a follow-up inspection to verify that the plan has been implemented and that the standards that were not initially met are corrected.

• Sanctions are a penalty or mechanism of enforcement that the ministry can legally apply to long-term care home operators to have them comply with applicable legislation, regulations, standards and policies.

• LTC homes that are currently under sanction are identified in the reports.  You can see a home's history of sanctions, if any, since the start of the last reporting period on the Inspection Findings page.

To learn more about Inspections, see the Frequently Asked Questions and the Glossary of Terms.  For more details on the ministry’s standards and policies, see the Long-Term Care Homes Program Manual.

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