Retirement Homes Licence fee called ‘tax on seniors’

SARNIA -- Retirement home residents will take a hit in the wallet when a new licensing system takes effect, warns a Sarniabased retirement living manager. The new Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA) will require all Ontario retirement homes to apply for a licence to operate. About 40,000 Ontario seniors live in 700 retirement homes. Under the Retirement Homes Act, the authority will ensure facilities meet standards in cleanliness, food preparation, and emergency plans. All retirement home staff are also expected to be trained on preventing abuse and neglect, along with protection for whistle-blowers. But retirement homes will have to pony up licensing fees. Homes with fewer than 20 suites will pay an $800 application fee to be licensed. All other homes will pay $1,200. Once approved, homes will pay an annual licensing fee to the RHRA. "In effect it's a tax on seniors," said Clarke Boddy, retirement living division manager of Steeves & Rozema Group. "The re…
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  • October 21, 2012
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Seniors in some care facilities will foot bill for Ontario provincial regulator

Seniors living in some retirement homes across the region have already been asked to pay exorbitant fees for basic services. Now, retirement homes will be free to ask seniors to pay part of the costs of running an agency devoted to protecting them from abuse, fraud and maltreatment. The government-sponsored, self-financing Ontario Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority is asking retirement homes to pay it $9 plus HST per month ($10.17) for every room they operate. This fee will cover the costs of inspecting facilities and enforcing rules in the Retirement Homes Act of 2010. There is nothing to stop retirement home operators from turning to residents to cover those additional costs, said Mary Beth Valentine, the registrar and chief executive of the Ontario Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority. "We don't have any authority to tell them they can or they cannot pass it on (to seniors)." Emmanuel Village Retirement Home, onWeber Streetin Kitchener, will begin charg…
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  • July 30, 2012
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