Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021; Phase I Regulations
Regulation Number(s):
N/A
Instrument Type:
Regulation - LGIC
Bill or Act:
Providing More Care, Protecting Seniors, and Building More Beds Act, 2021 - Schedule 1: Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021
Summary of Proposal:
The Providing More Care, Protecting Seniors, and Building More Beds Act, 2021, received Royal Assent on December 9, 2021. Upon proclamation, the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 (Act) will come into effect to govern the long-term care sector. At the same time, the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 will be repealed.
Given the transformative nature of the new legislative framework for the long-term care home sector and the ongoing impact of the pandemic, a phased approach to regulation development is being undertaken.
The first phase of regulation development focuses on regulations needed to support the Act coming into force. As part of this phase, many provisions from Ontario Regulation 79 10 will necessarily be carried forward to form part of the proposed regulation to support the Act.
Phase 1 key changes in the proposed regulation include:
- Enhancing emergency planning requirements to support greater sector preparedness in the event of an emergency, including outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.
- Defining "caregiver" and requiring all long-term care homes to have a visitor policy that respects the Resident Bill of Rights and ensures that caregivers continue to have access to long-term care homes during an outbreak.
- Requiring that integration of a palliative care philosophy include a holistic and comprehensive assessment of a resident's needs and when needed, improvements to a resident's quality of life, symptom management, psychosocial supports and end-of-life care, always subject to a resident's consent.
- Expanding and clarifying infection prevention and control (IPAC) roles and requirements to improve resident safety and quality of life.
- Defining the calculation method for direct care targets as part of the commitment of an average of four hours of care per resident per day.
- Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of medical directors to improve oversight.
- Adding additional protections for whistleblowers.
- Addressing the amounts and criteria for issuing administrative monetary penalties as deterrents for non-compliance with the Act.
All interested parties are encouraged to provide feedback on the proposed regulation. Feedback can be provided in one of two ways:
1)By using the comments field which appears when the "Comment on this proposal via e-mail"; field is accessed below; or
2)By email to ltc.comments@ontario.ca
Given the transformative nature of the new legislative framework for the long-term care home sector and the ongoing impact of the pandemic, a phased approach to regulation development is being undertaken.
The first phase of regulation development focuses on regulations needed to support the Act coming into force. As part of this phase, many provisions from Ontario Regulation 79 10 will necessarily be carried forward to form part of the proposed regulation to support the Act.
Phase 1 key changes in the proposed regulation include:
- Enhancing emergency planning requirements to support greater sector preparedness in the event of an emergency, including outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.
- Defining "caregiver" and requiring all long-term care homes to have a visitor policy that respects the Resident Bill of Rights and ensures that caregivers continue to have access to long-term care homes during an outbreak.
- Requiring that integration of a palliative care philosophy include a holistic and comprehensive assessment of a resident's needs and when needed, improvements to a resident's quality of life, symptom management, psychosocial supports and end-of-life care, always subject to a resident's consent.
- Expanding and clarifying infection prevention and control (IPAC) roles and requirements to improve resident safety and quality of life.
- Defining the calculation method for direct care targets as part of the commitment of an average of four hours of care per resident per day.
- Clarifying the roles and responsibilities of medical directors to improve oversight.
- Adding additional protections for whistleblowers.
- Addressing the amounts and criteria for issuing administrative monetary penalties as deterrents for non-compliance with the Act.
All interested parties are encouraged to provide feedback on the proposed regulation. Feedback can be provided in one of two ways:
1)By using the comments field which appears when the "Comment on this proposal via e-mail"; field is accessed below; or
2)By email to ltc.comments@ontario.ca
Analysis of Regulatory Impact:
The Ministry of Long-Term Care has completed a preliminary analysis of the estimated regulatory impact of the proposed regulation, and, if approved and filed, identified benefits including:
- Improved quality of life and care for residents of long-term care homes.
- Greater protections for long-term care homes to optimize resident safety and enhanced sector preparedness in the event of an emergency, including outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.
- Improved sector oversight and accountability measures to enhance compliance.
Estimated average annual direct compliance costs for all long-term care homes in Ontario are between $20M to $23.5M, or approximately $36K on average for each long-term care home per annum.
Estimated costs associated with the proposal are primarily operational and administrative in nature and associated with the implementation of requirements necessary to operationalize legislative changes proposed under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 in the areas of:
1. Emergency planning
2. Quality of care
3. Resident safety
4. Staffing
5. Accountability, enforcement, transparency and quality improvement
To assist in further assessing the impacts of the proposed regulation, the ministry invites affected stakeholders to consult the information in the links under the Further Information section of this post that includes the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, and the draft regulation.
Please note:
Submissions and comments provided to the Ministry of Long-Term Care (MLTC) are part of a public consultation process to solicit feedback on proposed new regulation under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. This process may involve the ministry publishing or posting to the internet your submissions, comments, or summaries of them. In addition, the ministry may also disclose your submissions, comments, or summaries of them, to other parties during and after the consultation period. Therefore, you should not include the names of other parties (such as the names of employers or other employees) or any other information by which other parties could be identified in your submission. Further, if you, as an individual, do not want your identity to be made public, you should not include your name or any other information by which you could be identified in the main body of the submission.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care is authorized to collect and use personal information for the purpose of this public consultation in compliance with subsection 38(2) and clause 41(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). The ministry is authorized to disclose personal information in compliance with clause 42(1)(c) of the FIPPA.
- Improved quality of life and care for residents of long-term care homes.
- Greater protections for long-term care homes to optimize resident safety and enhanced sector preparedness in the event of an emergency, including outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics.
- Improved sector oversight and accountability measures to enhance compliance.
Estimated average annual direct compliance costs for all long-term care homes in Ontario are between $20M to $23.5M, or approximately $36K on average for each long-term care home per annum.
Estimated costs associated with the proposal are primarily operational and administrative in nature and associated with the implementation of requirements necessary to operationalize legislative changes proposed under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 in the areas of:
1. Emergency planning
2. Quality of care
3. Resident safety
4. Staffing
5. Accountability, enforcement, transparency and quality improvement
To assist in further assessing the impacts of the proposed regulation, the ministry invites affected stakeholders to consult the information in the links under the Further Information section of this post that includes the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, and the draft regulation.
Please note:
Submissions and comments provided to the Ministry of Long-Term Care (MLTC) are part of a public consultation process to solicit feedback on proposed new regulation under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021. This process may involve the ministry publishing or posting to the internet your submissions, comments, or summaries of them. In addition, the ministry may also disclose your submissions, comments, or summaries of them, to other parties during and after the consultation period. Therefore, you should not include the names of other parties (such as the names of employers or other employees) or any other information by which other parties could be identified in your submission. Further, if you, as an individual, do not want your identity to be made public, you should not include your name or any other information by which you could be identified in the main body of the submission.
The Ministry of Long-Term Care is authorized to collect and use personal information for the purpose of this public consultation in compliance with subsection 38(2) and clause 41(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). The ministry is authorized to disclose personal information in compliance with clause 42(1)(c) of the FIPPA.
Further Information:
Proposed Phase 1 Regulation (Download Adobe Reader)Providing More Care, Protecting Seniors, and Building More Beds Act, 2021 (Download Adobe Reader)Proposal Number:
22-HLTC002
Posting Date:
January 18, 2022
Comments Due Date:
February 17, 2022
Contact Address:
400 University Avenue, 6th Floor, Toronto, ON M5G 1S5
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