Ontario Long-Term Care Home Inspection Process: Standards, Violations, and Oversight

Every year, inspectors from the Ministry of Long-Term Care conduct thousands of inspections at the more than 615 long-term care homes in Ontario.

The inspections take place in response to complaints from families and reports from the home, or as proactive surprise inspections meant to get an overall sense of the home's performance.

At the end of those visits, the homes are written up for any failures to meet the standards set out by long-term care legislation—from small things, like leaving janitorial closet doors unlocked where a resident could accidentally get a hold of toxic cleaning supplies, to big issues, like failing to prevent a fall or an instance of abuse.