Safe Long-Term Care Act must be mandatory and enforceable, say health care and labour groups

Silas: It’s time to get long-term care right.

December 9, 2024 (Ottawa, ON) – A new campaign from health care and labour groups presses the federal government to make the Safe Long-Term Care Act mandatory and enforceable, ensuring seniors across the country get the care they deserve.

“Everyone in Canada deserves safe high-quality long-term care, and health care workers deserve the working conditions to make that possible. Mandatory and enforceable standards are crucial to creating real change at the bedside in long-term care delivery,” said Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU).

In an open letter addressed to Minister of Health Mark Holland and Minister of Labour Steven MacKinnon, the CFNU, Canadian Labour Congress, Canadian Health Coalition and nine allied organizations outlined health care workers’ priorities for the forthcoming act:

• Establishing enforceable national standards, including a minimum of 4.5 hours of direct care per resident daily.
• Creating a workforce strategy to address precarious employment, ensure fair compensation and attract skilled caregivers.
• Ensuring accountability by tying federal funding to compliance with the Act, and transparency on key metrics such as staffing levels and quality of care.
• Phasing out for-profit LTC homes and private staffing agencies, redirecting federal funding exclusively to public and non-profit facilities.

Silas emphasized the importance of federal government investment into public and non-profit care to address unsafe working conditions and ensure quality-focused LTC services.

“The top priority of LTC homes should always be safe and quality care for residents, and safe and healthy working conditions for staff. But the truth is that investor-owned LTC homes are business whose top priority is returning profits to their shareholders. Staffing decisions are not being made based on patient care, as we sadly witness during the pandemic,” Silas explained.

Recognizing that care quality is directly tied to workforce conditions, organizations who signed the open letter are urging the government to mandate a national LTC workforce strategy aligned with the International Labour Organization’s 5R Framework for Decent Care Work. A strategy following this framework would address precarious employment, ensure fair wages and benefits, and establish workforce planning to attract and retain skilled caregivers across the country.

The open letter and a full list of supporting organizations can be found at https://www.safeltc.ca.

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For more information, please contact Adella Khan, CFNU Communications, media@nursesunions.ca, 613-807-2942.

The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) is Canada’s largest nurses’ organization, representing frontline unionized nurses and nursing students in every sector of health care – from home care and LTC to community and acute care – and advocating on key priorities to strengthen public health care across the country.