NORTH BAY — The Ontario government is redeveloping and expanding Water’s Edge Care Community, a long-term care home in North Bay. This investment is part of the province’s ongoing work to create a 21st century long-term care sector. Over 20,000 new and 15,000 upgraded spaces are in development. A $4.9 billion investment over four years supports our plan to hire more than 27,000 staff, including registered nurses, personal support workers and support staff. This transformative vision for long-term care is truly resident-centred and will provide the highest quality of care for our most vulnerable people, where and when they need it.
“We made an unbreakable promise to fix our long-term care sector, and today we take another step towards delivering on that commitment,” said Premier Doug Ford. “Protecting our loved ones and ensuring they receive the level of care they deserve is at the heart of everything we do.”
“This government is repairing and rebuilding Ontario’s long-term care sector after decades of neglect,” said Rod Phillips, Minister of Long-Term Care. “That is why we are investing in projects like Water’s Edge Care Community and making good on our plan to build 30,000 new long-term care spaces in ten years.”
The Water’s Edge Care Community long-term care home will provide 12 new and 148 redeveloped, safe, modern long-term care spaces in North Bay. This project will see a brand new facility built on another site in North Bay and is expected to open in spring 2023.
This new development is another example of the Ontario government’s plan to accelerate the construction of much needed long-term care projects and is part of the province’s $2.68 billion ten year plan for the delivery of 30,000 safe, modern, comfortable spaces for our seniors to call home. The previous government took seven years to build just 611 new beds across the province.
“The new Water’s Edge Care Community facility is great news for seniors and their families in our community,” said Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing. “It is just one example of how our government is investing in the infrastructure, people and services needed to ensure long-term care residents in Nipissing receive the care they need in a safe, modern place they can call home.”
“It is both a great privilege and great responsibility to care for and serve Canada’s seniors, ensuring they live with the utmost comfort, dignity and respect,” said Sienna President and CEO, Nitin Jain. “Sienna has been working hard to ensure this new site will be a great resource and community asset to the people of North Bay. My thanks to the Government of Ontario and to the City of North Bay for all their work and support on this project. We wouldn’t be here today without them.”
Quick Facts
- The Ontario government is making a historic $2.68 billion investment in long-term care development. That includes a $933 million investment in 80 new long-term care projects this past March. This will lead to thousands of new and upgraded long-term care spaces across the province.
- Ontario now has 20,161 new and 15,918 upgraded spaces in the development pipeline.
- Creating new long-term care spaces and redeveloping existing older spaces to modern standards is part of the Government of Ontario’s Long-Term Care Modernization Plan.
- As of February 2021, more than 40,000 people were on the waitlist to access a long-term care bed in Ontario. The average wait time is 147 days for residents currently living in community settings.
SOURCE: Province of Ontario
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