Ontario approves long-term care expansion for fined operators

Ontario is approving expansions for nearly one-third of the long-term care companies it has fined for failing to meet care standards — a pattern revealed through cross-referencing the province's relicensing registry with administrative penalty data.

Between January 2022 and July 2025, operators approved for licence renewal collectively paid more than $570,000 in penalties to the Ministry of Long-Term Care. For a fine to be issued, the ministry must determine a home has repeatedly failed to follow its directives. A base fine of $1,100 means that $570,000 represents a substantial number of persistent failures.

The worst offenders are for-profit giants Extendicare and Caressant Care, each with over $100,000 in penalties since 2022. Extendicare is named as the licence-holder for ten proposed or approved long-term care projects on the ministry's list, while Caressant Care has multiple expansions in the pipeline.

Caressant Care director Kayla Ritz said the company "continues proactive, organization-wide action to ensure we are meeting the high standards our residents deserve," but offered no explanation for why penalty-heavy operators are being approved for provincial funding to expand.

The pattern reflects a contradiction at the heart of Ontario's long-term care crisis: the same ministry that penalizes homes for care failures is funding their growth. Advocates have long pointed to financialization of senior care — prioritizing shareholder returns over resident safety — as a driver of poor outcomes, especially during the pandemic. This approval-while-penalizing approach suggests little has changed.