The Ontario government is investing $8.9 million to further protect residents and staff in congregate care settings from COVID-19. The funding will be used to provide personal protective equipment, rapid antigen testing, enhanced infection prevention and control measures, and HEPA filters to improve ventilation in residences for adults with developmental disabilities, residences for children in care or with special needs, emergency shelters for women and families fleeing domestic violence and youth justice facilities.

“We must do everything we can to reduce the likelihood of outbreaks in congregate care settings so that we can protect our most vulnerable and those who care for them and keep families together,” said Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. “This important investment will help ensure that residents and staff remain safe while providing quality care to our loved ones.”

The government continues to focus on key actions to support a safe reopening in alignment with provincial reopening guidelines based on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.

The government also continues to work with service providers to ensure that residents and staff in the province’s 2,700 congregate care settings have the resources they need to help protect against COVID-19, while supporting their dignity, mental health, and social and emotional well-being.

“By providing more than $8 million to protect staff and residents in congregate care settings from COVID-19, our government is protecting our hard-fought progress by continuing to invest in the Province’s greatest asset — its people,” said Peter Bethlenfalvy, Minister of Finance. “With this funding, we are helping to protect some of the most vulnerable in our society, as we have throughout the pandemic.”