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OLTCA 2025 Provincial Budget Submission

Stable, predictable funding is the foundation for compassionate, resident-centered care

Ontario’s seniors have been pillars of our communities, dedicating their lives to supporting our neighbourhoods and serving our communities. 

We must give our seniors the compassionate and comprehensive care they critically need.

Ontario long-term care homes are vital in their communities. Throughout our province, north and south, urban and rural, Ontario families rely on long-term care homes to provide specialized care and affordable housing for their loved ones. 

OLTCA 2025 Provincial Budget Submission

Highlights the critical role of long-term care for Ontario’s future, including policy recommendations for a sustainable path forward.

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Investing in long-term care strengthens families, communities and futures

Ontario is at a critical juncture for our long-term care sector. OLTCA member homes are concerned about their future ability to operate, build and innovate.

Going forward, appropriate policies and predictable funding will allow Ontario’s long-term care sector to continue improving quality of life for residents.

As our population ages and seniors’ needs become more complex, Ontario’s families and communities will continue needing these homes and their ongoing services.

OLTCA’s Budget recommendations are built around three core priorities

Priority 1: Ensuring Stable, Predictable Funding

Long-term care homes need stable, predictable and sustainable funding that matches their costs to operate today and build for tomorrow.

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Priority 2: Strengthening Capital Re/Development Pathways

Ontario must continue building and modernizing long-term care homes to meet the needs of seniors now and in the future.

As Ontario’s population grows and ages, we require new homes across the province. At the same time, nearly 200 older homes still need a path to redevelopment.

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Priority 3: Growing the Long-Term Care Workforce

Long-term care homes must expand their workforce to meet the growing complex needs of residents and to meet the government’s commitment to increasing hours of direct care, all while ensuring homes can maintain vibrant teams.

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OLTCA’s 10 Recommendations:

1. Increase the level of care funding

All care is government-subsidized, and long-term care funding should keep pace with costs beyond the home’s control. For many homes, regulatory changes have increased their fixed costs, while recent arbitrated wage settlements have increased labour costs.

2. Introduce an annual operating grant for Small, Rural and Northern homes

Long-term care homes with fewer than 128 spaces often serve small, rural, or northern communities where they play a vital and unique role. These smaller homes face distinct, exacerbated operating pressures. An enhanced funding model must ensure their sustainability and continued service to their communities.

3. Implement the recommendations made to the 2023 Technical Advisory Table on Funding

Implementing those recommendations will provide homes with stability by allowing them to fully utilize the current funding to stabilize operations, improve resident care and quality of life, invest in staff engagement, support redevelopment and the needed additional capacity.

4. Ensure financial stability and predictability so long-term care homes can secure financing

Long-term care homes need financial stability and predictability to secure the confidence of financial lenders, both private and public institutions.

5. Provide government capital funding

The capital funding provisions must reflect the actual costs of building. The operators carry the upfront risks, and construction and financing costs have increased, but long-term care sector regulations include rate limits preventing the operators from making up incremental gaps.

6. Develop specialized solutions for the nearly 200 homes struggling to find viable capital pathways

Securing a pathway to redevelopment for the nearly 200 older homes requiring redevelopment demands flexibility on design standards, concessions on land issues, and support for mixed-use developments.

7. Continue investments to grow and develop Ontario's long-term care workforce

While Ontario has made efforts to increase staffing, funding flexibility is required to support homes with recruitment, IT supports and other human resource functions.

8. Enable long-term care staff to work to the full scope of their capacity

Excellence in care and quality of living is a team effort. Ontario can enable quality care and services for residents by ensuring long-term care staff can work to their full capacity by:

  • Supporting the position of resident support personnel
  • Expanding the capacity of care teams
  • Increasing pharmacy capitation funding to enable pharmacist-led medication reconciliation, which will support nursing teams

As homes move increasingly towards resident-centred, holistic, emotion-focused care models, it’s important to recognize the value and care delivered by multidisciplinary staff.

9. Enable innovative solutions throughout the long-term care sector

Ontario should enable innovation to better meet residents’s needs. Initiatives like “Long-Term Care Without Walls” allow healthy ageing-at-home through a knowledge hub, along with support and services, while directing long-term care support to seniors in the community. Seniors deserve to stay in their communities as they age.

10. Foster and invest in a culture of quality

Government policy is increasingly focused on compliance and enforcement instead of instilling a culture of quality as the path to delivering safe, innovative and excellent care. Public policy must support long-term care homes in attracting staff and leaders who share these values.

Ontario’s Seniors Have Complex Needs

Ontario’s ageing population demands urgent action

One in five seniors over 80 will have complex care needs requiring 24-7 care and supervision.

89% of residents need support with daily living activities.

72% of residents have moderate-to-severe cognitive issues.

Two in five new residents need acute medical monitoring.

Ontario’s most urgent healthcare priority

Strategic investments in the workforce mean better care for Ontario’s seniors

Population is Ageing

The number of seniors over 80 is growing at four times the rate of the rest of the population. 

Ontario’s population over 80 is projected to double by 2040.

Waitlists are Growing

The waitlist for long-term care is expected to exceed 50,000 by March 2025.

The median waiting time for placement is 126 days, and most admissions are crisis placements from hospitals.

Caregivers are Distressed

In Ontario, many seniors are cared for by family and friends, and nearly half provide an average of 40 hours of care per week.

A majority of them report feeling tired, anxious, overwhelmed, burnt out, frustrated and depressed.

The Government of Ontario has made strides towards building a sustainable, high-quality long-term care sector

The 2024 Ontario Budget addressed a historic operating deficit. The Government of Ontario has also invested in additional supports for people living with dementia, and supported programs to grow and strengthen the long-term care workforce. The government also enhanced the funding to increase the average hours of care per resident per day, while enacting regulatory changes to address workforce shortages. 

Rising costs threaten the ability of homes to provide the care seniors deserve

Ontario’s long-term care homes face financial pressures undermining their capacity to operate, build and innovate. Homes are struggling to retain staff. Ontario has nearly 200 older homes facing barriers to redevelopment.

Increased costs on all fronts: 

  • Labour cost increases
  • Increasing acuity of residents
  • Rising utility costs driven by climate change
  • Rising food, medical supplies, building maintenance and ageing infrastructure replacement costs
  • Rising insurance rates
  • Construction costs rising due to supply chain issues

Ontario’s long-term care sector is a leader in innovation

Long-term care homes work in partnership with hospitals, universities, colleges and municipalities to better serve Ontario’s seniors.

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Virtual Behavioural Medicine: Reducing hospitalizations and improving care for people with dementia

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Emotion Focused Care: Well-being approach to dementia supports

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Transitional care: Enabling people with complex care needs to transition out of hospital

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Campuses of care: Reimaging how we create seniors’ communities in partnership with Universities

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Culturally appropriate care: Helping residents of all backgrounds feel at home

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Training a future workforce: Living Classrooms and PREP LTC

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To learn about the future of Ontario’s long-term care sector, download the OLTCA 2025 Provincial Budget Submission.

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