Ontario is projected to have a spike in number of senior citizens in the upcoming years, according to an independent study done by professors at McMaster University.
The report titled The Impact of Ontario’s Aging Population on the Home Care Sector also projects a rise in demand for home care workers.
The report by economics professors Arthur Sweetman and Boris Kralj was commissioned by Home Care Ontario, the umbrella group representing home-care agencies.
Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) report said Ontarians utilize more health resources as they age.
The report said the province will require a significant increase in personal support workers (PSWs) and other home-care staff merely to sustain current service levels.
Ontario will have reduced hospital beds, stable home-care services, and fewer spots in long-term care homes compared to 2019-20 levels, relative to the expected surge in demand, the FAO report said.
The report released on Feb.19, 2024, said if there is an increase in the number of workers in-home care, it can ease the strain on hospitals and the rest of the health-care system.
The FAO report said the province hasn’t done enough to provide the nurses and PSWs needed for its expansion plans which means that challenges will likely continue across Ontario’s health-care system.
The restricted expansion of long-term care beds has resulted in extended wait times and waitlists for long-term care placements. By November 2022, the waitlist for a long-term care bed exceeded 39,000 Ontarians, with a wait time of 126 days FAO said.
The province revealed plans to inject an extra $1.5 bn into home care between 2022-23 and 2024-25 economic fall statement said.
The media release by FAO said the province’s expansion of home care will raise the count of Ontarians aged 65 and over receiving such services to 485,000 by 2024-25 from 410,000 in 2019-20.
Ontario will face a shortage of 19,254 home-care workers in the year 2024 FAO statistics said.
As Ontario is preparing for this demographic shift, it is essential for the government to prioritize job creation initiatives to ensure the delivery of quality home-care services for all the senior citizens in need FAO report said.
People working in the healthcare industry specifically in the home care and personal support care sector gave their insights on the situation.
Janet Jones works in the administration for Nicoya Health Support, a home healthcare service provider in Toronto. She said despite the demand, there are no jobs.
“There has always been a demand in this industry, there has been a demand for health-care workers and home-care workers, but my question is why the government is not doing anything to cater to this demand, there are no jobs in the market for people who want to get in the services,” Jones said.
Khushi Patel is studying Health Services Office Administration at Sheridan College in Brampton.
Patel said she has been facing a lot of issues in finding a field-related job for her co-op.
“There are such high waiting times and now that there is going to be a spike for demand in home-care workers, I am hoping that more vacancies would open up in Toronto,” she said.