Open Letter to Minister Duclos and Minister Jones

Regarding the Canada-Ontario Home and Community Care and Mental Health and Addictions Services Funding Agreement

Minister Duclos and Minister Jones,

Canadians want to receive care at home and in their communities. 97% of Ontarians believe it is important to improve access to home and community care. They also want governments to enable them to make this choice by making investments in home and community care a priority. The Canada-Ontario Home and Community Care and Mental Health and Addictions Services Funding Agreement signed in 2017 reflects these priorities.

As you embark on negotiating the framework for the allocation of $1.2 billion annual funding until 2026-27, we’d like to take the opportunity to urge you to add health human resources as a key priority to the agreement.

The first five years of the agreement identified expanding access to home care, including palliative and end-of-life care, caregiver supports and information technology as priority areas for investments. It also led to the development of national indicators. These national indicators have been key in tracking the impact these investments have had on our health system.

Over the next five years, we will only be successful in keeping vulnerable people living at home if we shore up our sector’s health human resources. Across Canada there are a considerable number of people having their hospital stays unnecessarily extended and others admitted to long-term care earlier than necessary due to the lack of staff within the home and community care sector. This places additional burden on a struggling long-term care sector – and costs far more money than care in a home or community setting.

In Ontario at the end of January 2022, there were 567 people still in hospital waiting to be discharged home with home care service. This lack of capacity in the home and community care sector cost the province an additional $355,509 a day.

Further, a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information confirms that 1 in 9 newly admitted residents to long-term care in Canada could have been kept at home with the right supports in place. That means over 8,000 Ontarians could have stayed home and received the necessary supports in their communities.

Home and Community Care organizations are unable to continue or expand on current service levels without the ability to recruit and retain health human resources. Home and community care staff are leaving the sector in droves, many to other sectors where there are incentivized opportunities to take up similar roles. In September 2022, across the three key home and community care frontline positions (PSWs, RN, RPNs), 12.8% of positions were vacant in Ontario. This is almost double the rate of 6.8% in January 2021.

The reason so many positions are vacant is that staff in the home and community care sector are the lowest paid in the health system. PSWs in Ontario in home and community care are making on average approximately 21% less than PSWs in hospitals and 17% less than PSWs in long term care. The median salary wage gap for RNs working in home care versus hospitals is $11.00 an hour.

We urge you to include health human resources as a key priority in the Canada-Ontario Home and Community Care and Mental Health and Addictions Services Funding Agreement. It is only by implementing a comprehensive health human resource plan that tackles wage disparity, recruitment, and retention that we will be able to provide care for people where they need it most.

Thank you,

Deborah Simon

CEO

Ontario Community Support Association

More Updates

Nearly 700 Ontario Patients Waiting in Hospital for Home Care and Community Supports, Says OCSA

By Karla Sealy • June 30, 2026

Toronto, ON – June 30, 2026 – Nearly 700 Ontarians are currently waiting in hospital for home care or community support services to be arranged before they can safely return home, according to data available from Ontario Health. The Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) says the figures demonstrate the growing urgency of investing in the services that make aging at home possible. These findings come as new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) highlight ongoing emergency department pressures across Canada and as more than 45,000 Ontarians remain on long-term care waitlists in the community. Together, these numbers point to a fundamental shift occurring across Ontario's healthcare system: more people are living longer at home, often with increasingly complex needs, while demand for community-based care continues to outpace available capacity. "Ontario has entered a new era of healthcare," said Lori Holloway, Chief Executive Officer of OCSA. "For years we've talked about aging at home as a goal. Today, it is the reality. More than 45,000 people are waiting for long-term care in the community, and nearly 700 patients are waiting in hospital for the home care and community support services needed to return home safely. The question is no longer whether Ontario needs more community capacity. The question is how quickly we can build it." Ontario's not-for-profit home care and community support organizations provide the services that make aging at home possible, including home care, transportation, Meals on Wheels, assisted living, caregiver supports, adult day programs, wellness services and hospital-to-home programs. Without these supports, seniors are more likely to remain in hospital longer, experience avoidable health crises, or require earlier admission to long-term care. “Community care is increasingly becoming healthcare's pressure valve," said Holloway. "Every hospital bed occupied by someone waiting for community services tells us the same thing: the demand for aging-at-home supports is growing faster than the system's ability to provide them. If we want to improve hospital flow, reduce pressure on emergency departments and help people remain independent longer, we need to accelerate investment in community capacity." OCSA is calling for continued investments in home care, community support services, caregiver supports; not just service volume increases but the necessary infrastructure funding to ensure Ontario can meet the needs of a rapidly aging population. "Ontario has made important investments across hospitals, long-term care and home care," Holloway added. "The next phase of healthcare transformation must focus on building the aging-at-home capacity that will determine whether our health system can meet future demand." For more information: Karla Sealy Manager, Advocacy, Policy and Community Engagement karla.sealy@ocsa.on.ca 416-256-3010/1-800-267-6272, ext. 242

Ontario Community Support Association Pre-Budget Submission 2026

By Karla Sealy • May 6, 2026

Ontario's health system is at a crossroads. Nearly one in five Ontarians is over age 65, more than 2.5 million people are without access to primary care, and hospitals face persistent Alternate Level of Care (ALC) pressures. Meanwhile, long-term care (LTC) waitlists exceed 48,000 people and are projected to grow. The most cost-effective and compassionate solution is to invest in a comprehensive suite of services including community support services, home care and independent living services, which allows people to remain in their homes and communities while reducing system pressures.

Meals on Wheels Ontario and SPCA Partner to Help Seniors Care for Their Pets at Home

By Karla Sealy • April 9, 2026

Ontario, Canada — April 1, 2026 — The Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) and the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society (Ontario SPCA) are launching a new partnership to support seniors and their pets by delivering pet food alongside Meals on Wheels deliveries. This collaboration brings together community support providers and animal welfare services to address a practical challenge faced by many older adults—accessing pet food due to limited mobility, fixed incomes, or transportation barriers. By leveraging existing Meals on Wheels routes, volunteers can now also deliver pet supplies donated by the Ontario SPCA during their regular visits. The initiative is being introduced through an initial pilot with a small group of participating providers, including Meals on Wheels Sudbury, and Meals on Wheels Cornwall, which has already completed its first pet food deliveries to local seniors. “Meals on Wheels programs do far more than deliver food, they are a vital connection point into the community,” said Lori Holloway, CEO of OCSA. “This partnership reflects how organizations can work together to respond to real, everyday challenges seniors face. It’s a practical example of how community-based care supports the whole person, not just clinical needs.” “Pets are family, and we know the positive impact they have on people’s mental and emotional health,” said Jennifer Bluhm, VP, Community Outreach, Ontario SPCA and Humane Society. “This partnership helps remove barriers so seniors can continue to enjoy the companionship of their pets.” The program is already making an impact at the community level, with local providers seeing firsthand how small supports can improve quality of life for clients. “Pets can play a powerful role in reducing the isolation many seniors experience,” said Tammi Lear, Executive Director, Meals on Wheels Sudbury. “Meals on Wheels Sudbury is excited to partner with the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society to help keep our seniors healthy, connected, and able to remain in their homes with their pets.” “Meals on Wheels Cornwall is proud to be the first organization to pilot this program with the Ontario SPCA,” said Andree-Ann Morin, Meals on Wheels Coordinator, Glen Stor Dun Lodge. “This pilot program recognizes that food security doesn’t stop with the individual — it includes the pets who bring comfort and companionship. Thanks to the Ontario SPCA, we’ve already been able to help clients who were struggling with the cost, access, and special dietary needs of their pets. Even with just a few clients so far, we’ve seen how removing this worry can improve overall wellbeing.” Evidence shows that pets can reduce loneliness and support mental well-being among older adults. Small, practical supports like this can play an important role in maintaining health, preventing more complex needs over time, and improving client outcomes. This new partnership demonstrates the potential of cross-sector collaboration to better support seniors aging at home, while strengthening connections between health, community, and social supports. OCSA and the Ontario SPCA will continue working together to explore opportunities to expand the program with additional community partners across Ontario. Media Contact: Karla Sealy Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) karla.sealy@ocsa.on.ca 416-256-3010 / 1-800-267-6272 ext. 242 About the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) The Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA) is the leading voice for home and community care in Ontario, representing hundreds of not-for-profit organizations delivering both home care and community support services across the province. OCSA members provide essential services including nursing, personal support and therapies; Meals on Wheels, transportation, caregiver supports, and other programs that help people remain safely in their homes and communities. Serving over one million Ontarians each year, OCSA works with government and system partners to advance integrated, community-based care as a cornerstone of a sustainable health system. About the Ontario SPCA and Humane Society The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a registered charity that has been operating for more than 150 years. The organization provides care, comfort, and compassion to animals in need in communities across Ontario, and works to keep pets and people together through a variety of community support services, education, and animal wellness initiatives.