Home, Community and Residential Care Services for Seniors

Long-Term Care Homes offer a variety of options. People living in a Home pay a fee for accommodation that is based on the type or style of accommodation. A Home may offer "Preferred” accommodation, which is a private or semi-private room with special features, as well as “Basic” or “Standard” accommodation.

It is important to remember that the features of basic and preferred accommodation will vary, depending on when the particular Home was constructed or renovated.

All Long-Term Care Homes have dining rooms and common rooms, and some may also have features such as a lounge, gift shop, beauty salon, chapel, or garden.

All Long-Term Care Homes offer 24-hour supervision and nursing care.
The basic accommodation package includes the following services:

• Furnishings (for example, bed and chair), meals (including special diets), bed linens and laundry, personal hygiene supplies, medical/clinical supplies and devices (for example, walkers and wheelchairs for occasional use), housekeeping, pastoral services, social and recreational programs, medication administration, and assistance with the essential activities of daily living.
• Nursing and personal care on a 24-hour basis and access to a physician and other health professionals.

Optional services are usually available for a fee. They may include services such as hairdressing, cable TV and telephone services, transportation.

Homes must prepare a "plan of care" for each resident, outlining the care requirements and levels of service offered. This plan must be reviewed at least every three months and adapted as the needs of the resident change.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) provides funding for Homes. The amount paid by residents for their Long-Term Care Home accommodation is called a "co-payment".

There are two different terms used to define the length a person stays in a Home:

1. Long Stay refers to permanent accommodations for an indefinite period of time.
2. Short Stay refers to temporary stays at a Home.
   • There are three types of short stay, the maximum number of days a person can stay for respite is 60 continuous or 90 in a calendar year, for convalescent care it is 90 continuous days or in a calendar year, and for an interim bed it is 120 consecutive days for the first period. This allows the CCAC’s to extend a resident’s stay up to 60 days if certain circumstances are met.
   • The short-stay respite care program provides a caregiver with a break from caregiving duties.
   • The convalescent care program helps the resident to regain strength and confidence, usually following a stay in a hospital.
   • The interim bed program provides a short stay interim bed for a patient who was residing in the hospital but needs long term care. The patient will wait for the bed of their choice in the interim bed.

The MOHLTC sets accommodation co-payment rates. The following table shows resident co-payment rates effective July 1, 2012. The co-payment rates change from time to time (usually, annually). For the most up-to-date rates, contact the staff at your local Community Care Access Centre.

The following Bulletin provides important additional details on the July 1, 2012 changes to the co-payment rates for basic and preferred accommodation:

• Bulletin: Important News Regarding Long-Term Care Home Co-payment Rates

Residents in a long-stay or interim bed with basic accommodation, who cannot afford to pay for the LTC co-payment, may be eligible to have their co-payment amount reduced. This is known as a rate reduction.

There is important legislation in Ontario that helps ensure Long-Term Care Homes provide a high standard of care.

The Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 (LTCHA) and Ontario Regulation 79/10 (Regulation) came into force on July 1, 2010 and are the single legislative authority for safeguarding resident rights, improving the quality of care and improving the accountability of Long-Term Care (LTC) Homes for the care, treatment and well-being of over 76,000 residents.

The LTCHA sets out the requirements for LTC Home resident rights and protections, services, accountabilities, placement rules, system management and compliance inspection and enforcement. The Regulation provides the details to support the requirements of the LTCHA.

The LTCHA and Regulation were developed to improve the resident experience and quality of life in LTC Homes.

To accompany this new legislation, the MOHLTC created the Long-Term Care Homes Quality Inspection Program (LQIP), which is designed to safeguard residents’ rights, safety and security, improve quality of care and create a culture that is focused on resident outcomes.

LQIP safeguards residents’ well-being by continuously investigating complaints, concerns and critical incidents, and by ensuring that all Homes are inspected at least once per year.  The mandate of the Long-Term Care Homes Quality Inspection Program (LQIP) is to:

• protect over 76,000 residents in Ontario’s 630 LTC Homes
• safeguard resident rights, safety, security and quality of life and
• ensure LTC Homes comply with legislation and regulations,.

At the end of every inspection an MOHLTC inspector prepares an inspection report.  You can read public versions of these inspection reports which are available from:

• LTC Homes, which are required to post these reports
• The family council of an LTC Home (if a family council has been established)
• The ministry website, where inspection reports are published.

All Homes must post and follow a Residents' Bill of Rights. The MOHLTC encourages Homes to get accredited by Accreditation Canada or the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilityties (CARF) by providing a funding incentive to accredited Homes.

As part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to improve the quality of care and quality of life for residents, and our ongoing efforts to promote communication and transparency between the long-term care home sector, the public and the Government, we are pleased to introduce Phase One of “A Guide to the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 and Regulation 79/10” (the Guide).

This Guide provides a general overview of the Act and its Regulation. The Guide does not address all aspects of the Act and its Regulation and is made available for convenient reference only. It should be read in conjunction with the Act and its Regulation and, in the case of any conflict; the provisions of the Act and its Regulation are authoritative. Users should consult their own legal counsel for all purposes of interpretation.

This Guide is designed to align with the Table of Contents of the Act and its Regulation.  This Guide is divided into ten Parts, reflecting the ten Parts of the Act and its Regulation as set out in the Table of Contents:

Document Download

Phase One of the Guide reflects Parts One, Two and Four of the Act and its Regulation.   [PDF]

Phase Two of the Guide will reflect Parts Three, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten of the Act and its Regulation.

Note: The Guide is provided solely as an on-line reference tool. Users who require hard copies of the Guide are directed to the links above, so that they may print off hard copies for themselves. The Ministry does not provide hard copies of the Guide.

Quality care matters. If you want more information, have a concern, or want to register a complaint about a Long-Term Care Home, call this toll-free number:

Long-Term Care ACTION Line 1-866-434-0144
7 days a week, 8:30AM-7:00PM

See the Making a complaint about a LTC Home  section of this website for more information

All applications to Long-Term Care Homes are coordinated by your local Community Care Access Centre (CCAC). Once your CCAC has determined that you are eligible, your next step is to choose the Homes you wish to apply to. You may apply to a maximum of five Homes. Your local CCAC will provide you with lists and information about Homes in your area. You can also find a Home in your area by using the Home locator on this site.

Your CCAC can also provide more detailed information about how to apply for and select a Home, and also prepare for a move to a Home.

See the Finding a Provider section for tips on selecting a provider and the Links and Resources section for more information.

The following organizations are in involved in the LTC Home sector in Ontario:

• Ontario Long Term Care Association
• Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors
• Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres (OACAC)
• Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE)
• Family Councils Program
• Health Quality Ontario (HQO)
• Ontario Association of Residents Councils (OARC)