TORONTO – Ontario has slapped a pair of $1,100 fines on two long-term care homes for failing to provide air conditioning in residents’ rooms.
Legislation passed last year required homes to install air conditioning in all residential rooms by June 22 of this year.
But as of Thursday, only 554 of the province’s 627 homes met that standard.
Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra said in a statement that another 24 homes were expected to be in compliance by Sept. 22, but that those two homes were fined for not cooperating with the ministry to achieve full air conditioning.
The government says Vision Nursing Home in Sarnia, Ont., has refused to install air conditioning and has no plans to do so, while McCormick Home in London, Ont., is debating the definition of air conditioning and does not list public room temperatures.
A spokesman for McCormick Home said the operator’s board is considering its options for responding to the compliance order from the ministry.
“The quality of life for our residents is our top priority, and we work diligently every day to ensure their comfort, safety and well-being,” Monica Fleck said in a statement.
Representatives for Vision Nursing Home did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ministry says almost every outstanding home has purchased air conditioning equipment and provided the ministry with proof.  Calandra previously said supply chain issues were partly to blame for the delays in getting all the homes up to standard.
More than 300 air-conditioning units had been held since July at the Montreal Port Authority and were back in the queue, but Calandra spoke to federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra about it and the units were released on Aug. 5, the government said.
The two fined houses have now been ordered to comply by September 16 or face another fine.  The ministry could also order a home to stop admissions, suspend the license and take over a long-term care home, or revoke the license and have an interim manager run the home.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 25, 2022.