Experts are putting the finishing touches to two sets of standards designed to improve the lives and safety of Canadians in long-term care homes, and are now wondering what the federal government intends to do once they are complete.
The standards are expected to be approved this month by the Health Standards Organization and CSA Group, formerly the Canadian Standards Association, and will be released in December.
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HSO long-term care committee chair Dr. Samir Sinha says he has spoken to federal ministers on the file who have expressed enthusiasm about the work so far but will not commit to make standards mandatory until they are finalized.
The Liberals promised to legislate long-term care safety in the last election, and that promise is a condition of the party’s supply and confidence agreement with the NDP to prevent an election before 2025.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos’ office has referred questions about the government’s promise to Health Canada, which would not say whether the government plans to table a bill in the House of Commons this fall.
Sinha and CSA Group committee chair Alex Mihailidis say the standards will be very similar to drafts released earlier this year, with some minor “tweaks.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 4, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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