Ontario Building New Long-Term Care Beds in Markham

Ongoing investments in new projects will protect our progress by bringing much-needed beds to the province

News.Ontario.ca
Dec. 6, 2021

The Ontario government is building 32 additional new long-term care beds at Mon Sheong Markham, bringing the future home’s size to 192 beds. This is part of the government’s $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 net new beds and about 28,000 upgraded long-term care beds across the province by 2028.

“Our government has a plan to fix long-term care and a key part of that plan is building modern, safe, and comfortable homes for our seniors,” said Rod Phillips, Minister of Long-Term Care. “When Mon Sheong Markham is completed it will now have an additional 32 beds -- this means it will be a place for 192 seniors in the community to call home, near their family and friends.”

Mon Sheong Markham is a not-for profit long-term care home that will be part of a campus of care, which helps integrate the home into the broader health care system and ensures residents have access to the care they need. The Mon Sheong Markham long-term care home is expected to start construction in summer 2023.

“Our investment in long-term care development is part of the 2021 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review: Build Ontario,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance. “Our government is committed to ending decades of neglect in our long-term care sector, and getting shovels in the ground on the beds that will help ensure our loved ones receive the quality of care they deserve.”

The government has a plan to fix long-term care and to ensure Ontario’s seniors get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve both now and in the future. The plan is built on three pillars: staffing and care; accountability, enforcement, and transparency; and building modern, safe, comfortable homes for seniors.

"Protecting Ontarians and ensuring our seniors receive the care they deserve will continue to be our government's top priority," said Billy Pang, MPP for Markham -- Unionville. "The completion of Mon Sheong Markham will now provide 192 new long-term care beds for our seniors to call home. This is welcome news for residents of Markham-Unionville."

Quick Facts

• Building new long-term care homes and upgrading existing older homes to modern standards is part of the Government of Ontario’s Long-Term Care Modernization Plan.
• The Province has issued a new Call for Applications for Long-Term Care Home Development in order to deliver on its goal of building 30,000 net new long-term care beds by 2028. The ministry is evaluating applications received on a rolling basis and will make a series of allocation announcements, as decisions are made.
• Ontario plans to invest an additional $3.7 billion, beginning in 2024--25, on top of the historic $2.68 billion already invested, to support this new series of allocations for the development of 10,000 net new and more than 12,000 upgraded beds across the province. These historic investments would bring the total to $6.4 billion since spring 2019.
• Ontario now has 20,193 new and 15,918 upgraded beds in the development pipeline - which means more than 67 percent of the 30,000 net new beds being delivered are in the planning, construction and completed stages of the development process.
• The Province has taken 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.
• As of June 2021, more than 38,000 people were on the waitlist to access a long-term care bed in Ontario. The median wait time is 163 days for applicants to be placed in long-term care.

The Ontario government has introduced legislation that, if passed, would improve the well-being of residents in long-term care and retirement homes, and ensure they get the care they deserve. If passed, the Providing More Care, Protecting Seniors, and Building More Beds Act, 2021 would repeal the current Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 and create the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. The Bill also includes proposed amendments to the Retirement Homes Act, 2010.