Ontario Increasing Construction Funding For Long-Term Care Homes

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Ontario legislative building. (CNW Group/Unifor)

The Ontario government is increasing its construction funding subsidy to support the cost of developing or redeveloping a long-term care home. This additional funding will help fast-track the construction of new long-term care beds before August 31, 2023. This supports the government’s $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 net new beds by 2028 and 28,000 upgraded long-term care beds across the province.

“Construction costs and long-term borrowing interest rates have escalated over the past few years. These financial barriers mean many long-term care projects have stalled before reaching the construction phase,” said Paul Calandra, Minister of Long-Term Care. “Increasing the construction funding subsidy will help move the construction of much-needed long-term care homes forward, resulting in the start of construction for thousands of new long-term care beds across the province by the end of next summer.”

Eligible projects that start construction by August 31, 2023, will receive an additional construction subsidy of up to $35 per bed, per day for 25 years. In addition, eligible not-for-profit applicants will be able to convert up to $15 of the supplemental funding into a construction grant payable at the start of construction, to increase projects’ upfront equity and enable them to secure financing.

“These actions represent a game-changing opportunity for not-for-profit homes. By helping homes secure the financing they need, these changes will help build more beds and strengthen our long-term care system,” said Minister Calandra.

Without additional funding, many projects will face ongoing delays and may not be completed. Together, these initiatives will reduce barriers to starting construction and help accelerate long-term care development across the province.

Quick Facts

  • More information about funding for long-term care home development is available here. Eligible operators who wish to apply for the supplemental construction funding subsidy increase must submit a statement of readiness by December 20, 2022.
  • The Ontario government is on track to build 30,000 much-needed net new long-term care beds in the province by 2028, and redeveloping older beds to modern design standards. Through a $6.4 billion investment, Ontario has 31,705 new and 28,648 upgraded beds in the planning, construction and opening stages of the development process. This will help protect overall bed capacity, address long-term care waitlists and hallway health care, and provide our seniors the care they deserve.
  • The province is taking innovative steps to get long-term care homes built, including modernizing its funding model, selling unused lands with the requirement that long-term care homes be built on portions of the properties, and leveraging hospital-owned land to build urgently needed homes in large urban areas.

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