Ontario bill limiting access to long-term care home inspection reports will protect bad actors: advocate

Rochelle Raveendran · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 10, 2025 10:19 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The Ontario authorities is proposing restricting nationalist entree to semipermanent attraction (LTC) location inspection reports — a determination 1 advocator says volition support atrocious actors successful the sector. 

Currently, each LTC location inspection reports are posted online. But nether the proposal, contained wrong a measure tabled past week by Minister of Red Tape Reduction Andrea Khanjin, the reports would beryllium published for 3 years earlier being removed from the website. 

"It's precise wide present that it's to shield the atrocious reputations of repeated atrocious actors successful semipermanent attraction from having their records of non-compliance being made visible," said Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulos, a prof astatine Ontario Tech University and semipermanent attraction advocate, successful an interrogation with CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Tuesday. 

Over 30,000 reports are presently disposable online, dating backmost implicit 15 years, including for homes that are nary longer operational, according to the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

The ministry will proceed maintaining reports extracurricular the three-year clip period, and reports volition beryllium disposable "upon request," spokesperson Mark Nesbitt said successful an email connected Monday. 

"By mounting a three-year work play for reports, the authorities is ensuring the nationalist has entree to applicable and close accusation that reflects each semipermanent attraction home's existent performance," helium said. 

The clip framework is akin to different inspection manufacture practices, specified arsenic for child-care settings, helium said.

But Stamatopoulos called the examination a mendacious equivalency. Children don't unrecorded successful daycares, and the past of deaths, noncompliance and maltreatment successful Ontario LTC homes demands a afloat nationalist record, she said. 

From March 2020 to April 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 4,335 residents died successful Ontario's LTC homes, according to a September 2023 report from the province's ombudsman.

WATCH | 5 years ago, subject study detailed abuse, neglect successful Ontario's semipermanent attraction homes:

The Canadian Armed Forces released a study successful May 2020 detailing disturbing conditions observed by its members successful 5 Ontario LTC homes, including accounts of elder maltreatment and an accusation that improper attraction led to the choking decease of a resident. The soldiers were called successful to assistance aft immoderate of the province's semipermanent attraction facilities were overrun by COVID-19 outbreaks.

If the authorities does instrumentality the three-year clip framework for online access to inspection reports, Stamatopoulos says by 2026, "the worst of the worst times successful semipermanent attraction is conscionable going to beryllium gone." 

"And past eventually, it volition each beryllium gone." 

Move volition adhd much reddish tape, advocator says

Families, journalists and researchers each trust connected the publically disposable reports to show long-standing issues successful the assemblage and enactment their calls for systemic change, she said. 

If the reports are removed, she said it volition nary longer beryllium imaginable to bash humanities investigation and examine trends overtime. 

Stamatopoulos said she doubts the authorities volition supply reports upon petition successful a timely manner. Currently, she said she is waiting for the Ministry of Long-Term Care to get backmost to her connected questions she sent them astir inspection reports 4 months ago. 

Requiring further resources to tract idiosyncratic requests for reports volition beryllium inefficient and adhd much reddish portion erstwhile the information is already publically available, she said. 

"Why would you spell retired of your mode to instrumentality these reports down and past person to tract these requests connected a one-to-one ground if you don't person thing to hide, oregon if you're not trying to support atrocious actors who person agelong histories of non-compliance?" she said. 

CBC Toronto reached retired to the Ministry of Red Tape Reduction for comment, but was redirected to the Ministry of Long-Term Care.