TORONTO — Ontario is setting aside up to $270 million to hire more than 4,000 long-term care workers by the end of the fiscal year.
Long-Term Care Minister Rod Phillips announced details of the funding today.
It’s part of a plan to hire more workers in the sector so the province can meet a goal of getting long-term care residents an average of four hours of direct care per day by 2025.
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Phillips says the government plans to introduce legislation that would enshrine the direct-care minimum standard in law.
The province says the money announced today will increase the average of direct care to three hours per day by the end of the fiscal year in March 2022.
The funding announcement comes after the province mandated COVID-19 vaccination for workers in the sector that has been hit hard by outbreaks and deaths during the pandemic.
In-home staff, support workers, students and volunteers must be vaccinated by Nov. 15 unless they have a valid medical exemption.
Ontario throne speech: Province to invest $2.68B for long-term care beds over 10 years
