Non-Profit Long-Term Care in Ontario: How Financially Robust Is the System?

ABSTRACT

The disastrous effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic have demonstrated the need for comprehensive reform of the policy, regulatory, and financing regimes of long-term care in Canada, including strengthening the non-profit component of the care system. In this article, we assess the implications of the evolution of Ontario's long-term-care policy on non-profit providers. We analyze the revenue trends and financial health of charitable long-term-care homes (LTCHs) from 2004 to 2017. Although the general pattern is one of revenue stability for non-profit LTCHs, their financial robustness has become more constrained over time as a result of greater reliance on government funding and declining philanthropy.