Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ontario’s long-term care homes have added more staff. Nevertheless, stark disparities of care continue to plague the system, particularly in corporate-owned facilities. On November 2025, the Ministry of Long-Term Care made internal government data public. This data demonstrates how certain homes deliver as much as four-and-a-half hours of care per resident a day and others only deliver less than an hour daily.
This data comes from a freedom of information request, and covers the financial year up to 31 March 2024. The Ontario government aims for a minimum of four hours of hands-on care for residents, emphasizing the need for adequate staffing to meet this target. During the fourth quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year, Ontario recorded an average of 3 hours and 49 minutes of care. This figure does not capture the truly alarming state of many facilities.
Concerns about for-profit homes are pronounced. Seven of the ten lowest-rated homes in the province for care levels are owned by Southbridge Care Homes. That year, Chelsey Park in London had the highest recorded low of hands-on care. Southbridge’s facility barely met the minimum standards for providing necessary care. Municipal homes provided an average of 3 hours and 40 minutes of care—an outstanding average. For-profit homes failed to meet this standard providing only 3 hours 26 minutes on average.
A spokesperson for Minister of Infrastructure Natalia Kusendova-Bashta pointed to the progress already made since 2021.
“Compared to 2021, long-term care residents are now receiving, on average, more than an hour of additional daily direct care from nurses and PSWs — a 36 per cent increase, equivalent to 15 days of additional care per resident, per year,” – spokesperson for the Ministry of Long-Term Care.
This increase is indicative of a concerted effort to address the ongoing staffing shortages that plague the sector. The hurdles are hardly behind us. Southbridge Care Homes, who recently made the switch to in-house operations, say that impacted their ability to report during that transition period.
“Beginning in October 2023, Southbridge transitioned from a third-party management company to in-house operations, including a full back-office system change. During this transition, some data was not captured in reports,” – Southbridge Care Homes.
Wayne Gates, Member of Provincial Parliament, voiced his concerns over the provincial government’s licensing practices for these for-profit facilities. His biggest challenge though were their funding sources I would argue.
“I think they should stop handing out licences and public dollars for-profit chains with chronic understaffing — that would help alleviate some of the problem,” – Wayne Gates.
The implications of inadequate staffing are severe. Doris Grinspun, Executive Director of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, sounded the alarm on residents’ health risks.
“What it means is more pressure injuries (known as bedsores), more falls, more use of restraints — physical restraints or chemical restraints, as in medications — because they don’t have the staffing to engage with residents,” – Doris Grinspun.
