On May 8, 2025, the Minister of Long-Term Care introduced Bill 14, Support for Seniors and Caregivers Act, 2025. If passed, Bill 14 will make a number of amendments to the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 (FLTCA) and the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 (RHA).
Summary of amendments
With respect to the FLTCA:
- Licensees of long-term care homes will be required to have organized programs respecting dementia care and services to meet the care needs of residents with dementia.
- Licensees of long-term care homes will be required to have organized programs to recognize and respect, at minimum, cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual needs of residents.
- The Director is authorized to request a placement co-ordinator to submit reports on any matter concerning long-term care home placement and admission.
- Currently, section 78 of the FLTCA requires every licensee of a long-term care home to ensure that the home has a Medical Director who must be a physician. The section is re-enacted to permit either a physician or a registered nurse in the extended class to occupy the role, with the role renamed to as “Clinical Director”.
- Licensees contravening or failing to comply with any provisions of the FLTCA or regulations will now be guilty of an offence.
- New offences are also added, including offences respecting abuse or neglect of a resident by a manager of a long-term care homes, a staff member, a volunteer, or any person who provides services to a licensee or a resident in the areas of health, social work or social services work. Additionally, it will also be an offence to impede a provincial offences officer’s exercise of their function.
- Provisions are added to permit provincial offences officers to obtain warrants and production orders during their investigations, which can be obtained through an application made without notice to a provincial judge or justice of the peace. Warrants can authorize a wide array of actions including entry and access, make reasonable inquiries of any person, use any device or system located on premises, to compel production of information or evidence, and any other investigative techniques as set out in the warrant. A provincial offences officer may call upon police officers for assistance in executing the warrant and may use whatever force is reasonably necessary to execute the warrant.
- Monetary penalties against directors, previously much less (at $4,000) for someone serving on the board of a not-for-profit long-term care home, is harmonized with penalties applicable to all directors, being a maximum of $200,000 for a first offence, and a maximum of $400,000 for a subsequent offence.
With respect to the RHA:
- An additional right to the Residents’ Bill of Rights is added, namely the right to ongoing support from individuals who are determined to be the resident’s caregivers to support the resident’s physical, mental, social and emotional well-being and quality of life.
- Specified senior officials in the Ministry are empowered to provide binding direction as well as recommendations to licensees respecting the prevention and management of specified types of infectious diseases.
Implication of amendments
The majority of amendments from Bill 14 implicate the FLTCA. They establish a significantly more robust provincial offences regime covering virtually anyone with duties and responsibilities in a long-term care home, complemented by expanded investigatory powers by provincial offences officers and enhanced financial penalties.
Although only time will tell just how much enforcement will be driven through the provincial offences regime, Bill 14 should nevertheless prompt licensees of long-term care homes to review their compliance programs, so that they are prepared to provide services and respond to concerns in this updated regulatory environment if Bill 14 is passed in its current form.
First Reading of Bill 14 has carried, and it remains to be seen how it will progress when Legislature resumes in the fall. Of note, the Ontario Hospital Association made submissions to the Government on Bill 14 on Jan. 6, 2025, raising concerns around the provisions that set out new individual offences for staff members, volunteers, and professional health workers and caregivers, and as well, the enhanced financial penalties that can be faced by directors.
Bill 14’s status through the legislative process can be tracked here.
For questions related to Bill 14 or any other health care related matters, reach out to any of the authors or key contacts below.
