Long-term care in Canada is partly public, but residents still pay a meaningful monthly amount for their room and board, and private retirement homes can cost several times more. For an aging Canadian, care can quietly consume the savings and the home that would otherwise have formed an inheritance, often in a stay measured in months.
This page sets out the data on nursing home and long-term care costs in Canada, in Canadian dollars, including the provincial co-payment system, private retirement home prices, home-care rates, and how care costs erode an estate. Each figure links to a source at the bottom. Updated June 2026.
Public long-term care co-payments
In a publicly funded long-term care home, the government pays for nursing and care, while the resident pays a set amount for accommodation. Ontario's published rates are a useful benchmark.
| Ontario LTC accommodation (from 1 July 2025) | Monthly co-payment (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Basic (ward) room | $2,085.37 |
| Semi-private room | $2,514.24 |
| Private room | $2,979.32 |
1. A basic room costs about $2,085 a month out of pocket
In Ontario, the maximum a resident pays for basic (ward) accommodation in a publicly funded long-term care home was $2,085.37 a month ($68.56 a day) from 1 July 2025. The province separately covers all nursing and personal care.1
2. A private room runs nearly $3,000 a month
The same Ontario rates set semi-private accommodation at $2,514.24 a month and private accommodation at $2,979.32 a month. The private rate is the ceiling on out-of-pocket cost in an Ontario long-term care home.2
3. Rates rise every year with inflation
Ontario's co-payments increase each 1 July by the prior-year change in the Consumer Price Index, capped at 2.5 percent, with a 2.4 percent increase applied for 2025 to 2026. Care costs compound steadily over a long stay.3
Who pays, and the subsidy
The cost split, and the help available, decide how fast a stay drains an estate.
4. The province funds the care; the resident funds the room
In Ontario, the province funds all care staff and supplies, historically more than $200 per resident per day in total provincial funding, while the resident's co-payment covers room, board, and non-care operating costs. The big medical cost is socialized; the living cost is not.4
5. Low-income residents can have the basic rate reduced
Residents with income roughly at or below about $26,812 a year can apply for a Rate Reduction on basic accommodation. Only the basic rate is subsidized, never semi-private or private, and the reduction is based on the resident's net income.5
6. A small comfort allowance is protected
A subsidized resident keeps a comfort allowance of $149 a month for personal needs after the reduced co-payment. That is the spending money left to someone whose income is fully absorbed by care.6
Private retirement homes and home care
Outside the publicly funded system, costs climb steeply, and they are paid almost entirely from savings.
7. Private retirement homes run $3,500 to $6,000 a month
Private-pay seniors residences (distinct from publicly funded long-term care) typically cost roughly $3,500 to $6,000 a month, and high-end or memory-care suites can exceed $10,000 a month. These figures come from an industry guide rather than a government source.7
8. CMHC data shows a wide provincial spread
CMHC's Seniors' Housing Survey put the average rent for a standard space at about $3,999 a month in Ontario, with a "heavy care" space averaging $4,261 a month (2021). Across provinces the spread is wide, from roughly $1,520 a month in Quebec to about $3,999 in Ontario.8
9. Home care is not cheap either
Private home-care support workers cost roughly $28 to $40 an hour through an agency, with private nursing visits far more. Even part-time in-home support adds up: about 20 hours a week of home care can cost more than $30,000 a year, rivalling a long-term care co-payment.9
Capacity, wait lists, and demand
Demand for care is set to surge as the population ages, which keeps costs and wait times high.
10. Canada has roughly 198,000 long-term care beds
The Canadian Institute for Health Information counted about 198,000 long-term care beds across 2,076 homes (2021), roughly 29 beds per 1,000 adults aged 65 and over, with 54 percent of homes privately owned.10
11. Demand could nearly double within a decade
Modelling for the Canadian Medical Association projected that roughly 199,000 additional long-term care beds would be needed by 2035, effectively doubling current capacity as the boomer generation ages.11
12. Wait lists are long
The Ontario Long Term Care Association reports a provincial wait list of nearly 50,000 people, with half waiting at least 165 days for placement. Scarcity pushes many families toward more expensive private options in the meantime.12
13. The oldest cohort is growing fastest
Statistics Canada projects the population aged 85 and over will more than double, from about 1.2 million around 2031 to roughly 2.8 million by 2051. This is the group that drives most long-term care demand.13
How care erodes an estate
The way costs and stays combine is what turns care into an inheritance problem.
14. Many stays are short, but front-loaded with cost
The average long-term care resident is about 83, and a large share of residents die within the first year of admission. Even a stay measured in months can consume tens of thousands of dollars in co-payments and fees, drawn straight from the savings and home that would have been inherited.14
15. The math adds up fast
At roughly $2,085 a month for basic public care, a single year costs about $25,000, and a private retirement home at $5,000 a month costs $60,000 a year. For the modest estates most Canadians leave, a few years of care can absorb much of what was meant to pass on. See our data on average net worth in Canada and the average inheritance for context.15
16. Planning protects what is left
Care costs are largely unavoidable, but a clear will, a power of attorney, and an up-to-date estate plan ensure that whatever remains passes smoothly to the people you choose, without added probate cost or family conflict. To understand the stakes, see what dying without a will means and read how to write a will.
The lesson behind these numbers: care in later life is expensive and increasingly common, and it is paid largely from the same savings and home that make up an estate. You cannot avoid the cost, but you can plan around it so that what remains reaches your family efficiently. To start in a guided way, use our will generator, or read our related data on senior poverty in Canada, dying alone in Canada, and wills in Canada.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a nursing home cost in Canada?
In a publicly funded long-term care home, the resident's co-payment in Ontario runs from about $2,085 a month for a basic room to $2,979 for a private room (2025 rates). Private retirement homes typically cost $3,500 to $6,000 a month or more.
Who pays for long-term care?
In public long-term care, the province funds nursing and personal care, and the resident pays a set accommodation co-payment for room and board. Low-income residents can apply to have the basic rate reduced. Private retirement homes are paid almost entirely out of pocket.
Will care costs use up my inheritance?
They can. Care is paid from the same savings and home that make up an estate, and even a stay of a year or two can absorb tens of thousands of dollars. A clear will and estate plan help ensure that whatever remains reaches your family efficiently.
The clearest takeaway: care costs are largely fixed, but a will protects whatever survives them. To begin, use our will generator or read how to write a will.
Sources
- 1Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care (ontario.ca)
- 2Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care (ontario.ca)
- 3Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care (ltchomes.net)
- 4Government of Ontario (ontario.ca)
- 5Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care (ontario.ca)
- 6Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care (ontario.ca)
- 7Comfort Life (comfortlife.ca)
- 8CMHC Seniors Housing Survey (cmhc-schl.gc.ca)
- 9Closing the Gap Healthcare (closingthegap.ca)
- 10Canadian Institute for Health Information (cihi.ca)
- 11Canadian Medical Association (cma.ca)
- 12Ontario Long Term Care Association (oltca.com)
- 13Statistics Canada (statcan.gc.ca)
- 14Canadian Institute for Health Information (cihi.ca)
- 15Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care (ontario.ca)
About the author
Max Kuch
Max Kuch has spent years studying succession law, the economics of aging, and the consumer side of estate planning. For GetAWill he gathers and synthesizes data from CMHC, CIHI, provincial ministries, and Statistics Canada, and presents it in clear, accessible terms.