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Bill 14, Support for Seniors and Caregivers Act, 2025

Kusendova-Bashta, Hon. Natalia Minister of Long-Term Care

Current status:

First Reading Ordered for Second Reading

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Bill 14 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

SCHEDULE 1

FIXING LONG-TERM CARE ACT, 2021

The

Schedule amends the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 .

Here are some highlights:

1. Licensees

of long-term care homes are required to have organized programs respecting

dementia care and services and cultural, linguistic, religious and spiritual

needs.

2. New

offences are added, including offences respecting abuse or neglect of a

resident. Licensees are guilty of an offence for contravening or failing to

comply with any provisions of the Act or regulations.

3. The

Director is authorized to request a placement co-ordinator to submit reports to

the Director on any matter concerning long-term care home placement and

admission.

4. Currently,

section 78 of the Act requires every licensee of a long-term care home to

ensure the home has a Medical Director who must be a physician. The

section is

re-enacted to require every licensee of a long-term care home to ensure the

home has a Clinical Director who must be a physician or a registered nurse in

the extended class.

SCHEDULE 2

RETIREMENT HOMES ACT, 2010

The

Schedule amends the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 to

add an additional right to the Residents’ Bill of Rights set out in subsection

51 (1) of the Act, namely the right to ongoing support from caregivers, and to

enable specified senior officials in the ministry of the Minister to provide

binding direction as well as recommendations to licensees respecting the

prevention and management of specified types of infectious diseases.

Bill 14 2025

Act to amend the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 and the Retirement Homes Act,

CONTENTS

Preamble

Contents

of this Act

Commencement

Short

title

Schedule 1

Fixing

Long-Term Care Act, 2021

Schedule 2

Retirement

Homes Act, 2010

Preamble

The

Government of Ontario:

Recognizes

that Ontario seniors deserve quality care as they age.

Recognizes

that many challenges, such as dementia, exist and will need to be addressed as

Ontario’s senior population expands by more than 1.7 million by 2046.

Supports

and protects seniors, enabling them to lead healthy, engaged lives while

maximizing their independence, quality of life and social connections.

Believes

that families and caregivers deserve support in caring for their loved ones as

they age, that dementia care should be improved, that family and caregiver

support should be enhanced, and that seniors should be protected while their

social connections are fostered.

Therefore,

His Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of

the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Contents

of this Act

1 This Act consists of this section, sections 2 and 3 and

the Schedules to this Act.

Commencement

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this

section, this Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

(2) The

Schedules to this Act come into force as provided in each Schedule.

(3) If

a

Schedule to this Act provides that any of its provisions are to come into

force on a day to be named by order of the Lieutenant Governor in Council, an

order may apply to one or more of those provisions, and orders may be issued at

different times with respect to any of those provisions.

Short

title

3 The

short title of this Act is the Support

for Seniors and Caregivers Act, 2025 .

SCHEDULE 1

FIXING LONG-TERM CARE ACT, 2021

Subsection 2 (1) of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021

is amended by adding the following definition:

“provincial

offences officer” means a person designated by the Minister under subsection 1

(3) of the Provincial Offences Act ; (“ agent des

infractions provinciales ”)

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Dementia

care

16.1 Every licensee of a

long-term care home shall ensure that there is an organized program of dementia

care and services for the home to meet the care needs of residents with

dementia.

Section 18 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Cultural,

linguistic, religious and spiritual recognition

(1) Every

licensee of a long-term care home shall ensure that there is an organized

program for the home to recognize and respect, at a minimum, the cultural,

linguistic, religious and spiritual needs of residents.

Religious

and spiritual practices

(2) Without

restricting the generality of subsection (1), every licensee shall ensure that

residents are given reasonable opportunity to practise their religious and

spiritual beliefs, and to observe the requirements of those beliefs.

Subsection 24 (3) of the Act is repealed.

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Offence

re abuse or neglect

24.1

(1) The

following persons are guilty of an offence if they abuse or neglect a resident

of a long-term care home:

1. The

licensee of the home or a person who manages the home pursuant to a contract

described in

section 113.

2. A

staff member of the home.

3. A

volunteer of the home.

4. Any

person who provides professional services to a licensee of the home in the

areas of health, social work or social services work.

5. Any

person who provides professional services to a resident of the home in the

areas of health, social work or social services work.

absent from the home

(2) Subsection

(1) does not apply where the resident is absent from the home.

Same

(3) Despite

subsection (2), subsection (1) applies in circumstances where the resident is

receiving care or services from a person mentioned in paragraph 1, 2, 3 or 4 of

subsection (1) while absent from the home.

Officers,

etc.

(4) The

following persons are guilty of an offence if they authorize, permit or concur

in the commission of an offence under subsection (1) by a person mentioned in

that subsection:

1. If

the licensee of the long-term care home or a person who manages the home is a

corporation, an officer or director of the corporation.

2. In

the case of a home approved under

Part IX, a member of the committee of

management for the home under

section 135 or of the board of management for the

home under

section 128 or 132.

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Report

48.1 The Director may at any

time request a placement co-ordinator to submit a report to the Director on any

matter concerning long-term care home placement and admission, in a form

acceptable to the Director, and the placement co-ordinator shall comply with such

a request.

Section 78 of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Clinical

Director

(1) Every

licensee of a long-term care home shall ensure that the home has a Clinical

Director.

Professional

qualifications

(2) The

Clinical Director shall be a physician or a registered nurse in the extended

class.

Role

(3) The

Clinical Director shall,

(

a) advise the licensee on matters relating to medical care in the long-term care

home; and

(

b) perform

the duties prescribed by regulation.

Must

consult

(4) In

performing their duties under subsection (3), the Clinical Director shall

consult with the Director of Nursing and Personal Care and other health

professionals working in the long-term care home, in accordance with the

regulations.

(1) Clause 92 (2) (

b) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

(

b) relating

to the use of psychotropic drugs in long-term care homes, including requiring a

licensee of a home to discuss the use of such drugs with the Clinical Director

or with another staff member provided for in the regulations, and requiring the

Clinical Director or other staff member, as applicable, to prepare reports and

advise the licensee on the use of such drugs in the home;

(2) Subsection

92 (2) of the Act is amended by adding the following clauses:

(d.1) governing

consultations for the purposes of subsection 78 (4);

. . . .

(s.1) providing

for any transitional matter that the Lieutenant Governor in Council considers

necessary or advisable in connection with the implementation of the amendments

made by the Support for Seniors and Caregivers Act, 2025 ;

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Offence,

general

104.1 Every licensee who

contravenes or fails to comply with any provision of this Act or the

regulations is guilty of an offence.

(1) Subsection 150 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following

clause:

(f.1) may

require, in writing, a licensee to cause examinations or tests to be conducted

or taken, at the expense of the licensee, by a person possessing such expert or

professional knowledge or qualifications as are specified by the inspector and

to provide, at the expense of the licensee, a report or assessment by that

person;

(2) Section

150 of the Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

medical or health tests

(3.1) Nothing

in clause (1) (

f) or (f.1) authorizes an inspector to conduct or require

examinations or tests to determine the medical or health condition of a

resident.

(1) Subsection 151 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out the

portion before clause (

a) and substituting the following:

Inspections

with warrant

(1) Upon

application made without notice by an inspector, a provincial judge or justice

of the peace may issue a warrant authorizing an inspector named in the warrant

to enter premises specified in the warrant and to exercise any of the powers

mentioned in

section 150, if the provincial judge or justice of the peace is

satisfied on information under oath that,

. . . .

(2) Subsection

151 (1) of the Act is amended by adding “or” at the end of clause (a), by

striking out “or” at the end of clause (

b) and by repealing clause (c).

(3) Subsection

151 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out “A justice of the peace” at the

beginning and substituting “A provincial judge or justice of the peace”.

The Act is amended by adding the following sections:

Investigations

Investigations

with warrant

153.1

(1) Upon

application made without notice by a provincial offences officer, a provincial

judge or justice of the peace may issue a warrant, if satisfied on information

under oath that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person has

committed or is committing an offence under this Act and that there is,

(

a) information

or evidence relating to the offence in any building, dwelling, receptacle or

place; or

(

b) information

or evidence relating to the offence that may be obtained through the use of an

investigative technique or procedure or from doing of anything described in the

warrant.

Powers

under warrant

(2) A

warrant authorizes a provincial offences officer to exercise the following

powers, subject to any conditions contained in the warrant:

1. To

enter or access the building, dwelling, receptacle or place specified in the

warrant and seize, examine and remove anything described in the warrant.

2. To

make reasonable inquiries of any person, orally or in writing, with respect to

anything relevant to the investigation.

3. To use any data storage, processing or retrieval device or

system located at the premises in order to produce a record, information or

evidence described in the warrant, in readable form.

4. To

require a person to produce the information or evidence described in the

warrant and to provide whatever assistance is reasonably necessary, including

using any data storage, processing or retrieval device or system to produce, in

any form, the information or evidence described in the warrant.

5. To

use any investigative technique or procedure described in the warrant or do

anything described in the warrant.

Dwellings

(3) The

power to enter a premises described in paragraph 1 of subsection (2) with a

warrant shall not be exercised to enter a premises that is used as a dwelling,

except if the provincial judge or justice of the peace is informed that the

warrant is being sought to authorize entry into a dwelling and the provincial

judge or justice of the peace authorizes entry into the dwelling.

Conditions

on warrant

(4) The

warrant shall contain the conditions that the provincial judge or justice of

the peace considers advisable to ensure that any search authorized by the

warrant is reasonable in the circumstances.

Assistance

(5) The

warrant may authorize persons who have special, expert or professional

knowledge, and such other persons as may be necessary, to accompany and assist

the provincial offences officer in respect of the execution of the warrant.

Expiry

of warrant

(6) The

warrant shall state a date of expiry that is no later than 30 days after the

warrant is issued, but a provincial judge or justice of the peace may extend

the date of expiry for an additional period of no more than 30 days upon

application without notice by a provincial offences officer.

Time

of execution

(7) An

entry or access under a warrant issued under subsection (1) shall be made

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., unless the warrant specifies otherwise.

Use

of force

(8) A

provincial offences officer may call upon police officers for assistance in

executing the warrant and may use whatever force is reasonably necessary to

execute the warrant.

Copies

of seized items

(9) A

provincial offences officer who seizes anything under this

section or

section 153.2

may make a copy of it.

Admissibility

(10) A

copy of a document or record certified by a provincial offences officer as

being a true copy of the original is admissible in evidence to the same extent

as the original and has the same evidentiary value.

Further

warrants

(11) A

provincial judge or justice of the peace may issue further warrants under

subsection (1).

Seizure

of things not specified

153.2 A provincial offences

officer who is lawfully present in a place pursuant to a warrant or otherwise

in the execution of their duties may, without a warrant, seize anything in

plain view that the provincial offences officer believes on reasonable grounds will

afford evidence relating to an offence under this Act.

Searches

in exigent circumstances

153.3

(1) A

provincial offences officer may exercise any of the powers described in

subsection 153.1 (2) without a warrant if the conditions for obtaining a

warrant exist but, because of exigent circumstances, it would be impracticable

to obtain one.

Same

(2) Subsections

153.1 (5), (9) and (10) and

section 153.2 apply, with necessary modifications,

to a search under this section.

Use

of force

(3) A

provincial offences officer may, in exercising any of the powers given by this

section, call upon police officers for assistance and use whatever force is

reasonably necessary.

Report

to provincial judge or justice of the peace, things seized

153.4

(1) A

provincial offences officer who seizes anything under the authority of

section

153.1, 153.2 or 153.3 shall bring it before a provincial judge or justice of

the peace or, if that is not reasonably possible, shall report the seizure to a

provincial judge or justice of the peace.

Procedure

(2) Sections

159 and 160 of the Provincial Offences Act apply,

with necessary modifications, in respect of a thing seized under the authority

section 153.1, 153.2 or 153.3 of this Act, reading the reference in

subsection 160 (1) of that Act to a document that a person is about to examine

or seize under a search warrant as a reference to a thing that a provincial

offences officer is about to examine or seize under the authority of

section

153.1, 153.2 or 153.3 of this Act.

Production

order

153.5

(1) On

application without notice by a provincial offences officer, a provincial judge

or justice of the peace may at any time issue a production order to a person,

other than a person under investigation for an offence, requiring the person

to,

(

a) produce

documents or data, or copies of documents or data certified by affidavit to be

true copies; or

(

b) prepare

a document based on documents or data already in existence and produce it.

Contents

of order

(2) A

production order must stipulate when, where and how the documents or data are

to be produced, and to whom they are to be produced.

Grounds

(3) A

provincial judge or justice of the peace may make a production order if

satisfied by information given under oath or affirmation that there are

reasonable grounds to believe that,

(

a) an

offence under this Act has been or is being committed;

(

b) the

document or data will provide evidence respecting the offence or suspected

offence; and

(

c) the

person who is subject to the order has possession or control of the document or

data.

Conditions

(4) A

production order may contain any conditions the provincial judge or justice of

the peace considers advisable.

Evidence

(5) A

copy of a document or data produced under this section, on proof by affidavit

that it is a true copy, is admissible in evidence in proceedings under this Act

and has the same probative force as the original document or data would have if

it had been proved in the ordinary way.

return of copies

(6) Copies

of documents or data produced under this

section are not required to be

returned to the person who provided them.

Compliance

required

(7) A

person to whom a production order is directed shall comply with the order

according to its terms.

Obstruction,

etc.

153.6 Every person is guilty

of an offence who,

(

a) hinders,

obstructs or interferes with or attempts to hinder, obstruct or interfere with

a provincial offences officer executing a warrant under

section 153.1 or serving

a production order under

section 153.5;

(

b) otherwise

impedes a provincial offences officer in exercising their powers or carrying

out their duties under this Act; or

(

c) destroys

or alters a record or other thing that is relevant to the investigation being

conducted.

Subsection 181 (5) of the Act is amended by striking out “clause 150 (1) (f)”

and substituting “clause 150 (1) (

f) or (f.1)”.

(1) Subsection 192 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out

“subsection (2)” in the portion before clause (

a) and substituting “subsection

(2) or (3)”.

(2) Subsection

192 (3) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Directors,

etc.

(3) Every

person who is convicted of an offence under subsection 75 (3) is liable to a

fine of not more than $200,000 for a first offence, and not more than $400,000

for a subsequent offence.

(3) Subsection

192 (8) of the Act is amended by striking out “section 151” in the portion

before clause (

a) and substituting “section 151, 153.1, 153.4 or 153.5”.

(4) Subsection

192 (10) of the Act is repealed and the following substituted:

Limitation

period

(10) A

prosecution for an offence under this Act shall not be commenced more than four

years after the day evidence of the offence first came to the attention of a

provincial offences officer.

Subsection 193 (2) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraph:

25.1 governing

including,

i. prescribing

information,

ii. specifying

French or in one language only,

iii. prescribing

the content, form and manner in which the prescribed information must be made

available;

Commencement

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this

Schedule

comes into force on the day the Support for Seniors and

Caregivers Act, 2025 receives Royal Assent.

(2) Sections

2, 3, 7 and 8 come into force on a day to be named by order of the Lieutenant

Governor in Council.

SCHEDULE 2

RETIREMENT HOMES ACT, 2010

Subsection 51 (1) of the Retirement Homes Act, 2010

is amended by adding the following paragraph:

12. The

right to ongoing support from individuals who are, as determined in accordance

with the regulations, the resident’s caregivers to support the resident’s

physical, mental, social and emotional well-being and quality of life.

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Directions

and recommendations re infectious diseases

Definition

60.1

(1) In this

section,

“designated

senior employee” means a person employed in the ministry of the Minister as a

deputy minister, an associate deputy minister, an assistant deputy minister or

a director or in a prescribed position.

Direction

or recommendation

(2) A

designated senior employee may provide direction or recommendations to all or a

class of licensees respecting the prevention and management of infectious

respiratory diseases or infectious gastrointestinal diseases.

Implementation

of directions

(3) A

licensee who receives a direction under subsection (2) shall ensure that the

direction is implemented in the retirement home.

Consideration

of recommendations

(4) A

licensee who receives a recommendation under subsection (2) shall ensure that

the recommendation is considered and that a decision as to whether to implement

the recommendation in the retirement home is made.

Conflict

(5) In

the event of a conflict between a direction or recommendation under subsection

(2) and any of the following, any of the following prevail to the extent of the

conflict:

1. Any

applicable advice or recommendations of a local medical officer of health or

designate respecting an outbreak of a communicable disease.

2. An

order issued under the Health Protection and Promotion Act .

3. Anything

else that is prescribed.

Non-application

of Legislation Act, 2006 ,

Part III

(6) Part

III of the Legislation Act, 2006 does not apply to

a direction issued under subsection (2).

Commencement

(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this

Schedule

comes into force on the day the Support for Seniors and

Caregivers Act, 2025 receives Royal Assent.

(2) Section

1 comes into force on a day to be named by order of the Lieutenant Governor in

Council.

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

May 8, 2025

First Reading

Ordered for Second Reading

May 8, 2025

First Reading

Vote

Carried

First Reading

May 8, 2025

Carried

Ordered for Second Reading