CALTC delegation in Ottawa to champion for new seniors’ care investments

“Canada is at a critical juncture when it comes to long-term care”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ottawa, ON (February 5, 2019) – The board of directors for the Canadian Association for Long-Term Care (CALTC, pronounced “CAL tek”) led by chair Daniel Fontaine have arrived in Canada’s capital this week for a series of meetings with Members of Parliament, Treasury Board staff, as well as members of the Senate. These opportunities to meet will provide the public representatives with an up-to-date report on the state of long-term care in Canada, and explore ways where the federal government can help strengthen seniors care.

“Canada is at a critical juncture when it comes to long-term care, with an aging demographic and health care budgets stretched to the max right across the country,” says CALTC chair Daniel Fontaine. “By meeting dozens of public representatives in Ottawa this week, our aim is to build broad support for the long-term care sector, and secure new investments from government.”

The CALTC delegates will also be holding their Annual General Meeting in Ottawa on February 7^th. Both events are timed to coincide with the organizations 1^st annual #BECAUSEYOUCARE campaign, which encourages Canada’s MPs to schedule visit a local long-term care home in their constituency in 2019. Several MPs have already confirmed their visits, and many more are currently being processed and will be posted on the MP listing available at www.caltc.ca/becauseyoucare.

“Everyone on the CALTC board is excited to see the strong response to our first annual BecauseYouCare campaign,” says Fontaine. “Not only are our Members of Parliament responding to our campaign, but so are members of the public from right across the country judging by the number of shares and positive comments on social media. We think this is only just going to get bigger every year going forward.”

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In November, CALTC submitted their recommendations for the 2019 Federal Budget. The CALTC submission calls on the government to use federal infrastructure funding to help rebuild older care homes and fund the creation of 42,000 new long-term care beds across Canada. CALTC also urges the government to address the severe labour shortage in long-term care, and provide better access to innovation and data, helping both Canadian seniors and policy-makers.