Retirement Home Licensing Information

Here is some information I stumbled upon regarding the Retirement Homes Licensing.    This information is straight from Forever Young Online Publication April 2013.     I added my comments in blue.

Fact One 
Retirement Homes are governed by two pieces of legislation – the Retirement Homes Act (RHA) and the Residential Tenancies Act (RTA.)     Retirement Homes rental lease is also governed by the Residential Tenancy Act.    

Fact Two
It is not simple to define a retirement home but the important point to know is that retirement homes are residential tenancies and, therefore, must comply with the Residential Tenancies Act.    Some call themselves "senior's community", "adult lifestyle community". "senior's residence" etc..   There is no standard in terminology.    At the end of the day this is marketing language to make the residence seem more attractive.       No matter what it is called, if it is a retirement residence is must be licensed under RHA.    

Note that some who were previously known as retirement homes in the community may have not been licensed.     This is because they may not fall under the licensing requirements may not have opted to get the licensing.     For example, retirement homes that focused on independent lifestyle and only offered meals and housekeeping but no personal or supportive care may not fall under the criteria that require licensing for RHA.

Fact Three
As of July 1, 2012 retirement home operators are required to pay licensing fees to the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority.  There are two different fees – an application fee and an annual license fee.

Fact Four
Some landlords have been adding on licensing fees to a tenant’s monthly bills as an increase in rent or an additional care service charge. Advocacy Centre for Ontario (ACE) lawyers say they can’t do this.      

Fact Five
Tenants wanting to challenge such charges must file an application under section 135(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act within one year.

Fact Six
Care services offered by retirement homes include but are not limited to: health services, nursing services, continence care, assistance with dressing, bathing and feeding and provision of meals.

Fact Seven
Care-services charges can be increased only after the landlord gives 90 days notice and unlike rent can be increased more than once a year as long as the required notice is given.   Yes this is true.    You monthly base rent (excluding any additional care or service fees) will be broken down into percentage for accomodation and a percentage for care-service.    They can increase the accommodation portion only according to the rate set out by the landlord tenancy act.     The care-service they can increase more than that set rate.     Request the annual amount for the past couple of years to give you an indication of their past business practices.

More details on retirement home licensing fees can be found at acelaw.ca.

 

What is a Retirement Home?

The term “retirement home” is defined in the RHA as:

• a residential complex or the part of a residential complex,
• that is occupied primarily by persons who are 65 years of age or older.
• that is occupied or intended to be occupied by at least the prescribed number of persons who are not related to the operator of the home, and
•  where the operator of the home makes at least two care services available, directly or indirectly to the residents.


– from the Advocacy Centre for Ontario

Guide to Services and Programs available to Seniors In Ontario

Here is a link to a publication by the Ontario government regarding services available to senior's

http://www.seniors.gov.on.ca/en/resources/seniorsguide/English.pdf

Welcome

Hello & Welcome to our Blog

I am the founder and president of a group called Solva Senior Living.    We are Ottawa's Retirement Home Search Consultants.    This Blog is a way for us to communicate and provide the community with helpful information, resources, news and tools for local issues related to aging.  

A Little Bit About Us:

Growing up, much of my childhood was spent spending time in a Long Term Care facility in Cornwall, Ontario.     As my mom was a nurse and worked shift work, my brother was an orderly and my aunt and cousins worked in administration.    I have found memories running through the hallways, visiting with the residents and watching my mother in the nursing department.      

In 1996, I began working there in the dietary department.     A few years later relocated to Ottawa for school and later began working at a Long Term Care facility in Ottawa, The Glebe Centre.    My favorite task while working at the Glebe Centre was providing group tours to families looking at moving in a loved one.     Answering their many questions and providing them with the answers that ultimately helped them make informed decisions felt extremely rewarding.   Throughout the years, I became proficient with various medical needs of geriatric patients including Dementia and Alzheimer's.    I also became aware of the issues related to families and caregivers of aging loved one's.   At that point, I was convinced that I was going to pursue a career as an Administrator of Long Term Care, so I took some courses and completed the Long Term Care Management Program with the Canadian Healthcare Association.  

Craving more experience and challenges, I moved over to the Retirement Home Industry and accepted a role with Central Park Lodges (now Revera).      I accepted the role as Director of Marketing for Colonel By Retirement Residence.    This role was to lease the accommodations and promote the offerings.   Because Colonel By was a retirement residences, I spent much time educating families of aging loved one's on navigating the continuum of care and the resources available to them in our community.      My passion was and is still to support families while making difficult decisions.

Within a year, I was promoted into various roles with Revera including General Manager and Regional Director of Sales & Marketing.         As a Regional Director I was responsible to oversee the leasing of over 18 properties in Eastern Ontario, including 13 in the Ottawa area.      I spent a significant amount of time studying the local retirement home market place and created many corporate reports analyzing the competition.       I also trained the site level sales teams, established marketing strategies and marketing language.     In 2011, I was recruited as the Corporate Director of Sales & Marketing for a company called Leisureworld where I oversaw The Royale Ottawa and The Royale Kingston.      My workload was similar to before but I took on much more operational responsibilities including establishing rates and fee structures etc..

In 2013, after a year long Maternity leave, I created Solva Senior Living to basically switch the sides of the table that I work on and help those understand the sales processes, marketing language, support them with knowledge and information during a time of great change.    Ultimately save them time and give them piece of mind that they are making informed decisions.

When I decided to create Solva, ethically I did not want to charge the public for sharing information but have no issue charging the retirement homes.     Thus, I set out to establish a network of retirement homes of which have agreed to cover the costs of the individuals search.    We have established a large network of reputable and licensed homes throughout Ottawa.   And we are always trying to add to our network with the goal of having all the retirement homes included.

Our service is a personal one on one service.    We will answer your questions over the phone then we can meet with you in your home or place of convenience.   In a casual setting we will get to know you or your loved one.    We will them recommend residences not just based on your financial needs but also social, medical, cultural, personality and lifestyle.     Often we provide options that you would have not considered.  We then can arrange and escort you on tours.     We represent you with the retirement homes sales teams and we ensure you ask all the right questions.      Finally, we help you compare the offerings apples to apples to ensure that you are making informed decisions.     We then can help you arrange transition services including those who will professional downsize your home.

Our service is free with no sales pitch, just time saving information.

Call us today 613-421-6073
www.solvaseniorliving.ca

Looking forward to hearing from you!