{"id":268629,"date":"2020-08-20T10:30:26","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T14:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/a-new-federal-framework-for-long-term-care-in-canada\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T23:09:53","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:09:53","slug":"a-new-federal-framework-for-long-term-care-in-canada","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2020\/08\/a-new-federal-framework-for-long-term-care-in-canada\/","title":{"rendered":"A new federal framework for long-term care in Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the grim international league tables of total deaths<\/a> from COVID-19, Canada occupies a middling position. But when we turn to the share of deaths accounted for by residents of long-term care homes, Canada has the unwanted position of leading the list (figure 1). More than 80 percent of Canadian COVID-19 deaths have been in long-term care facilities, a higher proportion than in any other country. This is a dire and lamentable history. But its jarring effect on public consciousness may prove to be what it takes for Canadian governments, and Canadian society as a whole, to address long-neglected issues of quality and access in long-term care (LTC).<\/p>\n

We need to define this problem in context. Fewer than 2 percent of all LTC residents in Canada have died of COVID-19, and those deaths have disproportionately occurred in a relatively small number of facilities. (For example, 9 percent of Ontario\u2019s LTC homes accounted for 86 percent of all deaths of LTC residents.) But the fact that the deaths are concentrated in a problematic segment makes it no less urgent.<\/p>\n

As the public policy agenda turns to addressing these festering problems, there have been calls<\/a> for<\/a> the federal government to play a stronger role: in developing national standards, providing new funding or both. However, LTC is an area of provincial jurisdiction, and the various provinces have adopted a wide range of policies and organizational models. If nationwide standards of quality and access are to have any teeth, and if new funding is to buy expansion and improvement, the federal and provincial governments will need to act in concert. We need to find ways of working within the institutions of Canadian federalism to exploit the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of Canada\u2019s distinctive federal model.<\/p>\n