ontario regulation 471/24

made under the

Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021

Made: November 28, 2024
Filed: November 29, 2024
Published on e-Laws: November 29, 2024
Published in The Ontario Gazette: December 14, 2024

Amending O. Reg. 246/22

(GENERAL)

1. Section 52 of Ontario Regulation 246/22 is revoked and the following substituted:

Qualifications of personal support workers

52. (1) Every licensee of a long-term care home shall ensure that every person hired by the licensee as a personal support worker or to provide personal support services, regardless of title, meets one of the following requirements:

1. The person is registered with the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority in the personal support worker class.

2. The licensee determines that the person would meet the requirements to be registered in the personal support worker class that are set out in subsections 5 (2) to (7) and section 6 of Ontario Regulation 217/24 (Registration) made under the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority Act, 2021, which shall be read subject to the following modifications:

i. Every reference to the “applicant” in those provisions shall be read as a reference to the person who would be hired by the licensee as a personal support worker or to provide personal support services.

ii. Every reference to the “Chief Executive Officer” shall be read as a reference to the licensee.

iii. If the person is relying on their completion of a program that was designed to prepare them to provide personal support services to show that they meet these requirements, the person must provide the licensee with proof of graduation issued by the education provider that they successfully completed the program.

iv. The competency assessment required by subsection 5 (4) or 6 (4) of that Regulation, as applicable, is not required and instead,

A. the licensee must be satisfied that the person has successfully completed a program referred to in subsection 5 (2) of that Regulation, or

B. the licensee must be of the reasonable opinion that the person has a set of skills and knowledge that is equivalent to those of a person who has completed a program referred to in subsection 5 (2) of that Regulation.

(2) Despite subsection (1), a licensee may hire as a personal support worker or to provide personal support services, regardless of title,

(a) a registered nurse or registered practical nurse,

(i) who, in the opinion of the Director of Nursing and Personal Care, has adequate skills and knowledge to perform the duties of a personal support worker, and

(ii) who has the appropriate current certificate of registration with the College of Nurses of Ontario or, in the case of an out of province nurse, a current certificate of registration with the governing body of their health profession;

(b) a person who is enrolled in an educational program for registered nurses or registered practical nurses and who, in the opinion of the Director of Nursing and Personal Care, has adequate skills and knowledge to perform the duties of a personal support worker; or

(c) a person who is enrolled in a program described in subsection 5 (2) of Ontario Regulation 217/24 (Registration), made under the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority Act, 2021, but such a person must work under the supervision of a member of the registered nursing staff and an instructor from the program.

(3) The licensee shall cease to employ a person who was required to be enrolled in a program described in clause (2) (b) or (c) as a personal support worker, or as someone who provides personal support services, regardless of title, if the person ceases to be enrolled in the program or fails to successfully complete the program within five years of being hired.

(4) A licensee of a long-term care home is not required to comply with the requirements set out in this section until January 1, 2026, as long as the person hired as a personal support worker or to provide personal support services, in the reasonable opinion of the licensee, has the adequate skills, training and knowledge to perform the duties required of that position.

(5) A licensee shall cease to employ a person to whom subsection (4) applies if the person does not meet the applicable requirements under the Act and this Regulation on or before February 1, 2026.

(6) A licensee shall keep records of all persons to whom subsection (4) applies and provide statistical information respecting the situation to the Director monthly or upon request.

(7) The records required by subsection (6) must include, at a minimum, the number of persons working in the home to whom subsection (4) applies and their position.

2. Section 80 of the Regulation is amended by adding the following subsections:

(4) Every licensee of a long-term care home shall ensure that a written back-up plan is in place that addresses situations when a registered dietitian who is a member of the staff of the home is not able to be on-site in accordance with subsection (2), which must, at a minimum, identify actions and strategies the licensee will take to comply with the requirements of that subsection.

(5) The requirement for the registered dietitian to be on site at the home under subsection (2) does not apply if,

(a) the back-up plan described in subsection (4) fails to ensure compliance with subsection (2);

(b) a registered dietitian who is a member of the staff of the home provides the clinical and nutritional care required by subsection (2) by telephone or by means of video conferencing; and

(c) if the licensee determines that it is necessary, a member of a regulated health profession working within their scope of practice is on site to collaborate with the registered dietitian when the registered dietitian is providing the clinical and nutritional care by telephone or by means of video conferencing.

(6) A licensee who relies on the exception in subsection (5) must keep a written record of,

(a) the actions and strategies they took in accordance with their plan to comply with subsection (2); and

(b) the reasons for the licensee’s decision to have, or not to have, a member of regulated health profession on site to collaborate with the registered dietitian.

3. Sub-subclause 140 (3) (b) (ii) (A) of the Regulation is amended by striking out “subsection 52 (3)” and substituting “subsection 52 (2)”.

Commencement

4. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, this Regulation comes into force on the day it is filed.

(2) Sections 1 and 3 come into force on the later of December 1, 2024 and the day this Regulation is filed.

(3) Section 2 comes into force on the later of January 1, 2025 and the day this Regulation is filed.