The City of Toronto operates 10 long-term care homes. Learn more about the quality care and services the City provides as a leader in excellence and groundbreaking services for healthy aging.
The City is committed to healthy, safe and positive environments in which to live, visit and work. Behaviours that violate respect will be dealt with immediately. If you see or hear something of concern, please speak to a staff member.
Seniors Services and Long-Term Care (SSLTC) have been Accredited with Exemplary Standing to reflect compliance with evaluated criteria of the national accreditation program.
Accreditation Canada’s Qmentum® Long-Term Care program is customized to meet the care needs and core values of long-term care (LTC) homes, with the purpose of guiding continuous quality improvement. The program is founded on the principles of people-centred care and co-designed with insight and guidance from a diverse group of LTC stakeholders.
Accreditation Canada is a not-for-profit, independent organization accredited by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua).
As recognized leaders in behavioural support programs, Seniors Services and Long-Term Care (SSLTC) have a long history of demonstrated knowledge of dementia, delirium and mental health in the delivery of care.
Staff and medical professionals are knowledgeable in:
All City of Toronto long-term care homes have behavioural support programs. In addition:
Palliative and end of life care program is a holistic approach to care offering long-term care residents, and their loved ones or substitute decision maker, specialized care and services which are resident-centred, compassionate, coordinated and focus on managing and supporting the needs of residents who are facing a serious, life-limiting illness.
A palliative approach to care provides long-term care residents and their loved ones or substitute decision maker, with a continuum of care and services to relieve suffering and improve overall quality of life, in accordance with residents’ expressed values and preferences. Long-term care residents receiving palliative care may be offered specialized services, based on their condition, to manage the progression of their illness in concert with the resident, their loved ones or substitute decision maker. Palliative care focuses on the clinical, psychological, social and spiritual needs of the resident and their loved ones.
End of life care occurs in the last part of a long-term care resident’s life. End of life care is adopted when death is expected, based on assessments and changes in health status usually in the last days, weeks or months of life. Long-term care residents will be cared for in a holistic manner that supports their comfort by relieving the symptoms and stresses they may be experiencing at end of life.
Each of the City’s long-term care homes have an inter-professional team including primary care providers (physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses), personal support workers, social work counsellors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, complementary care assistants, spiritual and religious care, volunteer coordinators, music and art therapists and recreation services assistants. The team members involved will be based on the resident’s care needs, preferences and wishes.
Palliative and end of life care plans are individualized for each long-term care resident. They are created in collaboration with the resident, their loved ones or substitute decision-maker, and the care team members. Care plans are developed based on assessments of the resident’s physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and spiritual needs and preferences as well as resident’s values, strengths, and desires.
The care team will monitor and implement clinical interventions based on the resident’s care needs and preferences in order to minimize discomfort, pain, and suffering, and provide relief from symptoms. Some of the symptoms experienced at end of life include pain, tiredness and fatigue, drowsiness, nausea, changes in appetite, shortness of breath, depression and anxiety. The earlier symptoms are identified, the better they can be managed and treated.
Grief is a natural and personal reaction to death. It is important to provide opportunities for expressing feelings and thoughts that are common in grieving. Staff, including a social work counsellor is available to speak with you and your family when needed.
The City’s long-term care homes provide spiritual and religious care as part of its inter-disciplinary approach to resident care and service.
Within each of our homes there is a contracted Coordinator of Spiritual and Religious Care available to support residents and families in meeting their spiritual and religious care needs. The Coordinators work with multi-faith community leaders to ensure that residents’ traditions and beliefs are respected. Homes have regularly scheduled worship services for residents and it is possible to make additional arrangements for spiritual and religious care for another community faith leader or a lay visitor.
The City is improving care, services and quality of life for Two-Spirit, Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and gender- and sexuality-diverse (2SLGBTQI+) residents living in long-term care homes, and for Toronto seniors, with ground-breaking programs and initiatives. Find out more about the City’s commitment to inclusive care and services for 2SLGBTQI+ seniors.
The Capital Renewal Plan will modernize and improve the design of homes while advancing our vision to be leaders in excellence and ground-breaking services for healthy aging. The plan keeps beds in service at each site for as long as possible in order to minimize disruption. Residents will continue to receive excellent care and service throughout the redevelopment program. City Council has directed staff to:
In addition to approving the Capital Renewal Plan, Council adopted the George Street Revitalization plan which will include a long-term care home, emergency shelter, and community hub to better meet the needs of homeless, vulnerable and elderly individuals.
The Capital Renewal Plan is based on the following Guiding Principles:
The five (5) City of Toronto long-term care homes identified for mandatory redevelopment are:
And City Council adopted the goal to maximize the potential number of long-term care beds which could be located on the sites requiring redevelopment. Based on the sites identified at the time, this could represent an increase of 978 beds to the existing inventory of 2,600+ beds, and would be the first increase (37 per cent) in City-operated long-term care beds in approximately 30 years.
Seniors Services and Long-Term Care holds a number of Service Accountability Agreements with Ministry funding partners:
Seniors Services and Long-Term Care (SSLTC), a Division of the City of Toronto is the Health Information Custodian for ten (10) long-term care homes. This means, under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), SSLTC has the responsibility to ensure that personal health information is collected, used, stored and shared with full regard for the protection of privacy and the confidentiality of personal health information. This obligation to protect the privacy of personal health information extends to persons who act as agents of the Ministry of Healthy (MOH) and Ministry of Long-Term care (MLTC).
Individuals who wish to access or correct their personal health information, or have questions about how it is collected, maintained, used or disclosed, are encouraged to contact the long-term care home’s management team.
Individuals may also make a written request for access or to correct personal health information under PHIPA.
SSLTC is committed to resolving all concerns or complaints and encourages individuals to first contact the department involved. An individual’s concerns or complaints about access or privacy practices within SSLTC may be directed to the Department Manager. For general concerns or complaints about privacy practices, individuals are encouraged to contact the SSLTC Privacy Office at SSLTCPrivacy@toronto.ca.
Individuals may also submit a complaint regarding access or privacy practices of SSLTC directly with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC):
Information and Privacy Commissioner / Ontario
2 Bloor St. E., Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8
Phone: 416-326-3333
Email: commissioner@ipc.on.ca
If you have any questions about our information practices, feel free to contact:
Manager, Privacy and Clinical Information Management
1530 Markham Road, Unit #502 – 5th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M1B 3G4
Phone: 416-392-8490
Fax: 416-392-8457
Email: SSLTCPrivacy@toronto.ca
Seniors Services and Long-Term Care (SSLTC) welcomes opportunities to enhance our knowledge in pursuit of excellence in the services that we provide. We know that research is an integral component of knowledge building in pursuit of that excellence.
To that end, we have developed formalized processes related to the submission of research proposals these are based on our ethics statement and ethics decision-making principles. This framework guides us to ensure that any research that is approved to be conducted within our division meets the highest standards for health care research and also meets the more specific criteria established by Seniors Services and Long-Term Care.
All research proposals must have prior ethical approval from an accredited university, teaching hospital or national granting agency before the proposal will be submitted to the division’s own Ethics and Research Committee for consideration. All approved research must be conducted in a way that ensures minimal disruption to residents, clients, families and staff and provides learning and potential future benefit related to the enhancement of long-term care. All approved research must comply with the requirements of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) and the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA).
If you are interested in collaborating with the City in research that would build knowledge in the pursuit of excellence in long-term care, email ltc-ho@toronto.ca with the subject line “Research” for more details about the application process.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been exceptionally challenging for our long-term care residents, staff and families. In particular, social isolation and loneliness present health risks for residents who have experienced long periods of separation from family and friends and limitations on group dining and programming. Preventing loneliness is as important as helping residents with their physical care; even more so during periods of outbreak when contact with others is limited to reduce the risk of virus spread. The tips and strategies provided in this guide below are intended to improve the quality of life of residents affected by pandemic-related restrictions.
These downloadable resources have been made possible by funding support from Healthcare Excellence Canada and the collaboration of a working group representing the City’s directly-operated LTC homes.
See how the Resource Guide is being used within the long-term care home setting.