Seniors home to shut, not renovate

Burlington facility among a handful in Ontario forgoing standards update as ordered by province

- By Joanna Frketich

John Gould is worried about how his wife Guindolyn, 93, will adjust to a new home after four years at Burlington's Mount Nemo Christian Nursing Home, which is slated to shut down in September. Mount Nemo's licence is set to expire in June 2025 and it would require renovations to stay open.

A second long-term-care home in the region is slated to close instead of redeveloping to meet current standards.

Mount Nemo Christian Nursing Home in Burlington will shut down on Sept. 13 after asking the province to waive the required five-year notice period.

Blackadar Continuing Care Centre in Dundas was also granted a reduced notice period and plans to stop admitting new residents in April. The for-profit owner intends to construct a residential nine-storey building and townhouses instead.

Both long-term-care homes had licences that were set to expire in June 2025 and required renovations to stay open.

The Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE) has raised questions about how many other homes in Ontario with expiring licences will close instead of redevelop. The closures come at a time when longterm-care wait-lists have nearly doubled in 10 years to 40,000 seniors as of October 2022, according to the Ontario Long-Term Care Association.

“These older homes have a lot of issues with them. They’re just not up to modern standards,” said Jane Meadus, a staff lawyer with ACE, which is a legal clinic for Ontario low-income seniors. “Because they are private entities, they just close down.”