The Canadian government plans to support nursing homes with a new law

The federal government of Canada is inviting public input on a new law to improve safety in long-term care for seniors. During the 2021 election campaign, the Liberal Party of Canada promised to introduce a Safe Long-Term Care Act. The idea for the legislation comes as the spread of COVID-19 has brought attention to the fact that many nursing homes are failing to provide those who stay in them with even basic care.

The proposed legislation is also a condition of the agreement with the New Democratic Party, under which the New Democrats agreed to support the Liberals in House of Commons votes until 2025 in exchange for advancing shared priorities.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos' office has not said when the government plans to introduce the bill, but it could be as early as this fall.

New Democratic Party officials say the Liberal Party isn't acting fast enough. Healthcare critic Don Davies says the situation with for-profit nursing homes is looking as bad as possible.

"This is because they were more concerned with profit margins than the quality-of-care seniors received or the working conditions of their employees. Worse, these deplorable conditions were long-standing and well-known even before COVID," Davis said in a written statement.

Earlier this year, 2 expert groups in the long-term care field released new standards for improving patient health, safety, and infection prevention in nursing homes. These standards, which were developed by the Health Standards Organization and CSA Group, focus on patient care, improving working conditions for staff, and improving data collection and reporting on nursing homes quality and safety.

It is unclear to what extent these standards will form the basis of the new bill and whether they will be applied nationwide. The law can at least "reflect" the new standards, according to the government.

A public consultation document says the new law could "encourage" provinces and territories to adopt the updated standards.

Like the healthcare system, long-term care for elderly people is under the jurisdiction of the provinces and territories. Because of this, the federal government's role in shaping nursing home regulations is severely limited: it can only engage provinces in national discussions on the issue and allocate funds for specific initiatives. For example, in the budget passed in 2021, the government allocated CAD 3 billion to the provinces and territories to improve conditions in nursing homes.

In the last budget, the government allocated CAD 1.7 billion over five years to increase the hourly wages of personal support workers, who provide most of the care for bedridden patients in most nursing homes.

It has already been said that one of the goals of the new law is improved data collection. The government has asked the public for feedback on what information should be included in a national public report on long-term care. The Ministry of Health is to launch an online survey in the next 2 months to gather feedback from people in nursing homes, their family members and members of the public. Ministry officials will also hold roundtables with experts and establish collaboration with provinces and territories.