Province offers construction subsidy to long-term care facilities planning to build
Four years ago, the Golden Manor embarked on a provincially mandated plan to upgrade its current nursing home in Timmins.
A lot has changed since then, including a global pandemic and a new administrator.
Now, Lia Fontana said she couldn't be happier to know plans can resume, potentially with financial assistance from the province.
“On top of the base subsidy that the ministry already provides, they’re allowing an additional $35 per bed, per day, per year, for 25 years," said Fontana, administrator for the Golden Manor.
"So if you do the numbers with the number of beds that the Golden Manor has, that could be up to $60 million in additional funding.”
On Friday, the Ford government announced long-term facilities can apply for the construction subsidy to help their projects get off the ground next year.
“The ones that we had previously announced can continue to be built," said Paul Calandra, minister of long-term care, in an interview with CTV News.
"It’s well over 11,000 beds that we have in the pipeline over the next year that we want to get built and we didn’t want the current inflationary issues that are facing so many people to stand in the way of doing that.”
City officials said they're getting close to deciding who will be hired to construct the new building.
Timmins Mayor Michelle Boileau said a spring start date is still anticipated.
“One of the first orders of business will be awarding the project to a contractor. So we’re looking forward to that," said Boileau.
"Of course, finance (staff) are still crunching the numbers, putting it through the finance modelling to see what this announcement really means in our context. So we don’t have those final numbers yet but we should in the coming weeks.”
“It’s going to be a new Golden Manor build," said Fontana.
"The current building will be repurposed for other uses. Hopefully, we can connect with our community partners like DSSAB, hospitals, whoever that may be to repurpose this building.”
Officials said an exciting part of the funding announcement is that not-for-profit long-term care homes can use almost half of the subsidy for upfront construction costs.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Here's how much more Canadian landlords are asking for now, according to a just-released report
A new report says the average asking rent for a home in Canada in April was up 9.3 per cent compared with a year ago, while a slight month-over-month increase was also recorded for the first time since January.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
What is basic income, and how would it impact me?
Parliamentarians are considering a pair of bills aiming to lift people out of poverty through a basic income program, but some fear these types of systems could result in more taxes for Canadians who are already financially struggling.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
'I may have some nightmares:' Man survives being bitten by 2 sharks in Bahamas
A man who was bitten by two sharks in the Bahamas said Thursday he's 'thankful that I'm here' while sharing his story of survival.
Out-of-control wildfire burning near Fort McMurray
As of 9 a.m. on Friday, the wildfire burning 28 kilometres southwest of the northeastern Alberta city was 25 hectares in size.
Mexico's president accuses press and volunteer searchers for missing people of 'necrophilia'
The administration of Mexico's president has accused the press and volunteer searchers who look for the bodies of missing people of 'necrophilia,' comments that drew criticism this week.