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Bill 232, Protecting Seniors’ Rights in Care Homes Act, 2024

Pasma, Chandra

Bell, Jessica

Glover, Chris

Vaugeois, Lise

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Original

Bill 232 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill amends

Part IX of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006

in relation to care services and meals in care homes. Charges for care services

and meals must be consistent with information provided by landlords to new and

existing tenants in information packages required under

section 140 of the Act.

Section 140 of the Act is amended to require specified information to be

included in the information packages, and to require that the landlord comply

with other duties respecting information packages, such as requirements to

ensure that information packages are revised as needed and that copies are made

available to others.

New

section 141.1 is added to the Act to permit landlords and tenants of a care

home to enter into agreements for the provision of additional care services or

meals. A tenant may, in accordance with the section, require a landlord to

reduce or stop the provision of any such care services or meals after the

agreement has been entered into.

New

section 149.1 is added to the Act to place restrictions on increases to charges

for providing care services and meals, both in terms of frequency and amount.

Regulations made under the Act may provide for a process permitting a landlord

to increase a charge despite the restrictions, but only within prescribed

limits.

Consequential

amendments are made to other provisions of the Act.

The

Bill also amends

section 49 of the Retirement Homes Act,

2010 to require a licensee of a retirement home that is ceasing

operation to communicate to residents that they continue to have the rights of

a tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 ,

and that notice that the retirement home will cease to operate does not

constitute a notice of termination under that Act.

Bill 232 2024

Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and the Retirement Homes Act,

2010 respecting tenancies in care homes

Preamble

Seniors

built our province and they deserve a dignified retirement with stable,

affordable and high-quality housing and care options. As a growing number of

Ontario residents are moving into retirement residences for their senior years,

we have an obligation to ensure that older adults who live in retirement homes

are protected against exploitation, receive the services they are paying for

and are not forced to pay unaffordable fee increases on fixed incomes.

Retirement

homes are subject to the Residential Tenancies Act

for the rental portion of their fees, but the only restriction currently in

place for service fees is that the landlord provide 90 days notice of any fee

increase. This means that residents have no protection against exploitative fee

increases or cuts to services they are paying for, and allows landlords to

surreptitiously increase housing costs by raising the service portion of a

resident’s fees. These kinds of fee increases take advantage of seniors who do

not want to lose their home and community and force others to move despite

evidence showing that seniors who are displaced have adverse health effects.

Therefore,

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

the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Residential

Tenancies Act, 2006

Subsection 6 (1) of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006

is amended by striking out “119 to 134, 136, 140 and 149 to 167” in the portion

before clause (

a) and substituting “119 to 134 and 136, subsection 139

(2.1) and sections 140, 141.1 and 149 to 167”.

Subsection 7 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out “subsection 100 (2) and

sections 101, 102, 104, 111 to 115, 117, 120, 121, 122, 126 to 133, 140, 143,

149, 150, 151, 159, 165” in the portion before paragraph 1 and substituting “subsection

100 (2), sections 101, 102, 104, 111 to 115, 117, 120, 121, 122 and 126 to 133,

subsection 139 (2.1) and sections 140, 141.1, 143, 149, 149.1, 150, 151, 159,

165”.

(1) Section 139 of the Act is amended by adding the following

subsections:

Same

(2.1) The

charges for care services and meals shall be separately itemized in the

agreement and shall be consistent with those specified in the most current

version of the information package required under

section 140.

Same

(2.2) A

landlord may offer tenants a package of service but shall allow a tenant to

choose among the packaged services individually and pay only for those services

the tenant wants to receive.

Same

(2.3) The

charges for care services and meals shall be the same for every tenant in a

care home.

Same

(2.4) If

a care service or meals are reduced in quantity or quality, the landlord shall

reduce the charge for the care service or meals in a commensurate manner.

Same

(2.5) The

following rules apply with respect to marketing discounts for care services and

meals:

1. If

a landlord has offered any discount for care services or meals, such discount

shall be clearly set out in the agreement along with the date, if any, on which

the discount ends.

2. If

no date is set out for the end of the discount, any increase in charge from the

discounted amount is subject to the annual rate increase limits under this Act.

(2) Subsection

139 (3) of the Act is amended by striking out “subsection (1) or (2)” and

substituting “this section”.

(1) Subsection 140 (1) of the Act is repealed and the following

substituted:

Information

to tenant

(1) Before

entering into a tenancy agreement with a new tenant in a care home, the

landlord shall give to the new tenant an information package containing the

following information:

1. A

list of the different types of accommodation provided and the alternative

packages of care services and meals available as part of the total charge.

2. The

charges for the different types of accommodation and for the alternative

packages of care services and meals.

3. A

list and fee

schedule of additional services and meals available from the

landlord.

4. Any

other information that may be prescribed.

(2) Section

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

Duties

re information package

(3) The

landlord shall ensure that,

(

a) the

information package accurately reflects charges for care services and meals,

and does not result in material differences in those charges as between

different tenants of the care home;

(

b) the

information package is revised as needed to reflect increases in charges, to

the extent increases are permitted under

section 149.1, and to make any other

necessary changes;

(

c) any

material revisions to the information package are provided to any person who

received the original package and who is still a tenant;

(

d) the

information package and any material revisions to it are made available to

family members of a tenant and persons of importance to the tenant, with the

tenant’s consent; and

(

e) the

most current version of the information package is made available in the care

home, in an easily accessible location.

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Agreement

for additional care services or meals

141.1

(1) At any

time after entering into a tenancy agreement relating to a tenancy in a care

home, the landlord and tenant may enter into a written agreement that the

landlord provide to the tenant specified care services or meals in addition to

those agreed to in the tenancy agreement.

Charges

(2) The

charges for the additional care services or meals shall be specified in the

agreement, and shall be,

(

a) separately

itemized; and

(

b) consistent

with those specified in the most current version of the information package

required under

section 140.

Application

of requirements re tenancy agreements

(3) Subsection

140 (1) and

section 141 apply, with necessary modifications, with respect to

the agreement.

Deemed

to be part of tenancy agreement

(4) An

agreement entered into under this

section is deemed to form part of the tenancy

agreement.

Coerced

agreement void

(5) An

agreement under this

section is void if it has been entered into as a result of

coercion or as a result of a false, incomplete or misleading representation by

the landlord or an agent of the landlord.

Reducing

or stopping provision of added services, meals

(6) The

tenant may require the landlord to reduce or stop the provision of any care

service or meal specified by the tenant that was added by an agreement under

this section, by giving at least 10 days notice to the landlord.

Effect

of notice

(7) If

the tenant gives notice under subsection (6) to reduce the provision of a care

service or meal, the tenant has no obligation to pay for the reduced portion of

the care service or meal after the date the landlord is required to stop

providing it.

Same

(8) If

the tenant gives notice under subsection (6) to stop the provision of a care

service or meal, the tenant has no obligation to pay for the care service or

meal after the date the landlord is required to stop providing it.

Subsection 146 (2) of the Act is repealed.

The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Restrictions

on increases in charges

Restriction

on frequency

149.1

(1) A

landlord may not increase a charge for providing a care service or meals to

tenants of a rental unit in a care home unless at least 12 months have elapsed

since the day of the last increase in the charge by the landlord.

Restriction

on amount

(2) A

landlord may not increase a charge for providing a care service or meals to

tenants of a rental unit in a care home in a calendar year by more than the

percentage determined under paragraph 1 of subsection 120 (2) for that year.

Exceptions

(3) Despite

subsections (1) and (2), a landlord may, in accordance with the regulations,

increase a charge for providing a care service or meals at a time or to an

extent that would otherwise not be permitted under one or both of those

subsections, as provided by the regulations.

Same

(4) Regulations

made for the purposes of subsection (3),

(

a) shall

not provide for or permit charges for care services or meals that exceed the

cost of providing the care services or meals;

(

b) shall

not provide for or permit an increase in charges that exceeds 3 per cent a year

over a three year period; and

(

c) shall

require that the landlord prove, in the manner specified by the regulations,

that an increase in a charge is justifiable in the circumstances.

Effect

of non-compliance

(5) An

increase in a charge for a care service or meals is void if it does not comply

with subsections (1) and (2) or with the regulations made for the purposes of

subsection (3), as the case may be.

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

Agreements

under s. 141.1

(4) Despite

subsections (1), (2) and (3), the parties to an agreement entered into under

section 141.1 may in writing agree to a shorter notice period, or that notice

need not be given under this section, with respect to the charges for any or

all of the care services or meals provided under the agreement.

Subsection 151 (1) of the Act is amended by striking out “sections 140 and 150”

at the end and substituting “sections 139, 140, 149.1 and 150, including any

regulations made for the purposes of subsection 149.1 (3), as applicable, or

the care services or meals are provided under an agreement made under

section

141.1”.

Clause 234 (

p) of the Act is amended by striking out “section 150” at the end

and substituting “section 149.1 or 150, or of any regulations made for the

purposes of subsection 149.1 (3)”.

(1) Paragraph 56 of subsection 241 (1) of the Act is amended by

striking out “prescribing the information” at the beginning and substituting

“prescribing additional information”.

(2) Subsection

241 (1) of the Act is amended by adding the following paragraph:

57.1 for

the purposes of subsection 149.1 (3), but subject to subsection 149.1 (4),

governing increases in charges for care services and meals at a time or to an

extent that would otherwise not be permitted under one or both of subsections

149.1 (1) and (2);

Retirement Homes Act, 2010

Section 49 of the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 is

amended by adding the following subsection:

Notice

of tenant rights

(1.1) The

notice referred to in clause (1) (

b) shall contain a statement confirming that

the resident continues to have the rights of a tenant under the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and that the notice being

given does not constitute a notice of termination under that Act.

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the first anniversary of the day this Act receives

Royal Assent, or on an earlier day to be named by proclamation of the Lieutenant

Governor.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Protecting Seniors’ Rights in Care Homes Act, 2024 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

December 2, 2024

First Reading

Ordered for Second Reading

December 2, 2024

First Reading

Vote

Carried

First Reading

December 2, 2024

Carried

Ordered for Second Reading