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The number of Ontario long-term care homes receiving emergency funding to bail them out in exceptional circumstances has grown in recent years, new internal data shows, as the sector worries about how it is going to care for an aging population.
Data obtained using freedom of information laws shows how much money Ontario spends every year from its “homes in distress” fund, a pot set aside for long-term care operations on the brink of collapse.
In the data and documents released to Global News, civil servants offered a broad overview of a funding stream that appears to be growing.
“In the event a home experiences acute or unforeseen financial challenges that affects its cashflow, it can liaise with Ontario Health to assess the immediate financial risks,” staff wrote.
“Ontario Health may seek support from the Ministry. In exceptional circumstances, the Ministry can approve a one-time payment to provide relief to a home to help the home achieve financial stability.”
The data suggests the number of exceptional circumstances where homes require an emergency bailout from the government is growing.
The data, obtained by Global News using freedom of information laws, shows Ontario approves millions of dollars in emergency funding every year.
In 2021-22, the Ford government spent just $2.4 million bailing out long-term care homes, with one non-profit and three for-profit homes receiving funds. That year, for-profit homes received an average of $350,000 each.
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In 2022-23, the total spiked to $9.7 million, although only $1.2 million went to for-profit homes. In 2023-24, four non-profit homes split $9.7 million in bailouts, a figure that skyrocketed to $17.2 million across six homes in 2024-25.
In the 2025-26 year, four non-profit homes required $10.9 million in short-term bailouts.
Laura Tamblyn-Watts, the CEO of seniors advocacy group CanAge, said the growing bailouts were an insight into an industry in desperate need of more funding.
“These numbers are clearly a red flag for many people,” she said.
“When we’re looking at where the investments are — and the Ford government has made significant investments in long-term care — what we’re seeing is the tip of an iceberg. It is really an aging population and people living longer in long-term care homes with high, high degrees of frailty, the kinds of frailty we’ve never seen before.”
Over the past five years, Ontario sent millions to non-profit homes in emergency bailouts. For-profit long-term care companies received roughly $2.2 million in public money.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Long-Term Care emphasized how much the Ford government has spent overall.
“Our government continues to make record investments into the long-term care sector, including over $9 billion allocated this year alone. This included increasing Level of Care funding by over year $139.4 this year on top of the over $2 billion we are investing each year to add and support healthcare workers in the sector,” they wrote in a statement.
“While individual long term care homes are responsible for their day-to-day operations including their financial accounting, the Ministry provides the sector with many tools and resources to support them as they provide care to residents.”
In some cases, the data shows, recent bailouts saw large sums sent to a single home.
According to the data sent to Global News, the largest single bailouts were:
- 2021-22: $1.3 million
- 2022-23: $6 million
- 2023-24: $6.6 million
- 2024-25: $7 million
- 2025-26: $6.3 million
Tramblyn-Watts said the Ford government had shown a preference for supporting non-profit long-term care homes financially because they’re bound by stricter rules in some areas than their for-profit rivals.
“There has been clear indicators that they’re looking to support the nonprofit sector more,” she said. “That’s perhaps not as much of a surprise. The for-profit homes often have the ability to charge for extra types of services.”
Lisa Levin, the CEO of AdvantAge Ontario, which says it represents 89 per cent of Ontario’s non-profit homes, said the numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“What we do know is that the vast majority of long-term care homes that have ceased operating entirely in recent years have been for-profit homes,” she wrote in a statement.
At a time when Ontario needs every available long-term care bed, the ability of homes to remain open and continue serving residents is an important part of the picture.”
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