Seniors \u2014 people age 65 and older \u2014 make up the fastest growing age group in the province<\/p>\n
NEWS RELEASE
\nMINISTRY OF LONG-TERM CARE
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\nThe Ontario government is protecting Ontario\u2019s long-term care system by increasing annual funding to a record $1.92 billion to support the significant increase in staffing in the province\u2019s long-term care homes over the past four years. The historic increase to support staff comes as the government surpassed its target of an average of four hours of daily direct care for residents by nurses and personal support workers (PSWs) this spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur government is making historic investments to improve long-term care, by training, hiring and retaining thousands of health care workers,\u201d said Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long-Term Care. \u201cThis record investment into staffing will ensure those living in Ontario\u2019s long-term care homes receive the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s investment builds on the previous $4.9 billion four-year staffing plan<\/a>, which focused on recruitment, training and retention and helped add more than 16,000 personal support workers and nurses to the provincial workforce. As a result of highly successful initiatives like the PSW incentives program<\/a> and the Supporting Professional Growth Fund<\/a>, which helped more than 45,000 existing staff advance their careers between 2022 and 2024, the new funding will support salaries and other employment costs as the government continues to strengthen the sector\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is continuing to protect Ontario\u2019s health-care system \u2014 and that includes protecting long-term care,\u201d said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. \u201cThrough this historic investment to increase the long-term care workforce, we are ensuring that Ontarians can receive the high-quality care they need and deserve, no matter where they live.\u201d<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 a 36 per cent increase, equivalent to 15 days of additional care per resident, per year.<\/p>\n Building the long-term care workforce is one more way the government is ensuring Ontarians get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve. The plan to improve long-term care is built on four pillars: staffing and care; quality and enforcement; building modern, safe, and comfortable homes; and connecting seniors with faster, more convenient access to the services they need.\u00a0<\/p>\n Quick Facts<\/p>\n
Quotes<\/p>\n “Seniors are the pillar of our society, which is why this critical $2 billion investment will ensure that we support the staff and PSWs in our long-term care system. This historic investment is just one part of our government’s efforts to ensure that seniors live in dignity, with access to the care, support and respect they deserve.”<\/p>\n – Aris Babikian “Achieving and sustaining an average of four hours of direct daily care is a significant milestone for residents, families and care teams across Ontario. This historic investment reflects years of progress and partnership to strengthen staffing and improve the quality of life in our long-term care homes. We thank Minister of Long-Term Care Natalia Kusendova-Bashta and the Government of Ontario for their leadership and continued commitment to the people who live and work in long-term care. As resident needs grow more complex, this investment ensures we can maintain and build on the care improvements achieved to date \u2014 laying the foundation for even better care in the years ahead.”<\/p>\n – Donna Duncan “This investment and the sector\u2019s success in reaching the four hours of care average deserve high praise. Nothing has a more direct and positive impact on residents\u2019 quality of life than more staff. This has been a key advocacy priority for our association since it was first recommended in 2008, and we commend the government for taking concrete steps to make this goal a reality.”<\/p>\n – Lisa Levin “At Mon Sheong Foundation, we are committed to providing the best care across our five homes. We are pleased to see the new investment from the Ontario government to support employment costs and further strengthen efforts in hiring, training and retaining our workforce. It not only enhances our staff\u2019s growth and development, but also ensures higher quality care for the seniors we serve.”<\/p>\n – Tim Kwan Additional Resources<\/p>\n ************************<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seniors \u2014 people age 65 and older \u2014 make up the fastest growing age group in the province…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392,105342],"class_list":{"0":"post-218285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-pswlong-term-care-bedslong-term-care-homelong-term-care-funding"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tIn the first quarter of the government\u2019s 2025-26 fiscal year, residents received an average of 4 hours and 5 minutes of PSW and nursing care every day.
\n\tSeniors \u2014 people age 65 and older \u2014 make up the fastest growing age group in the province.
\n\tAs part of its plan to fix long-term care and address waitlists, the government is building 58,000 new and upgraded long-term care beds across the province.
\n\tIn August 2025, the Ontario government announced<\/a> it is investing $56.8 million to expand enrolment in nursing programs at publicly assisted colleges and universities across the province.
\n\tOntario is offering incentives of up to $35,400<\/a> to PSW students and eligible PSWs to launch careers in long-term care homes and in the home and community care sector.\u00a0
<\/p>\n
\nMPP for Scarborough\u2014Agincourt<\/p>\n
\nCEO, Ontario Long Term Care Association<\/p>\n
\nChief Executive Officer, AdvantAge Ontario<\/p>\n
\nChairman, Mon Sheong Foundation\u00a0<\/p>\n