Published: April 1, 2020

As Amended and Effective: April 1, 2024

1. Purpose of the funding

To better support the maintenance and improvement of the quality in long-term care homes, the ministry is revising the approach for funding the accreditation premium.

Effective July 1, 2018, the Accreditation Premium Memorandum dated March 25, 2010, as referred to in schedule A of the letter of agreement for the ministry’s Direct Funding to Long-Term Care Homes (DFA), will be replaced with the LTCH Quality Attainment Premium Funding Policy, which shall be an applicable policy under the applicable LTC Home Service Accountability Agreement (LSAA) with Ontario Health. The transfer payment program to which the accreditation premium memorandum referred to as “the accreditation premium” under the DFA, will instead be referred to as “Quality Attainment Premium (QAP) funding”, and governed by this policy.

The ministry may revise or issue clarifications of this policy from time to time.

2. Terms and conditions of the funding advance

Effective April 1, 2024, all accredited long-term care homes with an LSAA will be advanced the QAP per diem funding each month based on the number of licensed or approved beds in operation, subject to the home’s LSAA.

The QAP per diem will be paid as a supplementary line under the Other Accommodation envelope.

Please see the Long-Term Care Homes Level-of-Care Per Diem Funding Summary for the specific amount for the applicable period. The per diem amount is set by the Ministry of Long-Term Care (MLTC) and is updated by the ministry from time to time as part of the Long-Term Care Homes Level-of-Care Per Diem Funding Summary.

3. Reconciliation and retention of the funding

    1. Effective July 1, 2020, a long-term care home (LTCH) shall retain the QAP funding for each applicable day in a quarter of a calendar year which begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 only if the following conditions are met:

      1. the LTCH is accredited and provides the necessary documentation to the ministry to show that it is accredited by either Accreditation Canada or the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) Canada
      2. by the last business day in the quarter, the long-term care home is not subject to:
      1. a suspension of admissions directed by the Director pursuant to section 56 of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021
      2. a mandatory management order ordered by the Director pursuant to subsection 157(1) of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, except if:
      1. the licensee has retained a management company acceptable to the Director
      2. the licensee has complied with every other order issued by the Director in respect of the home
      1. an order suspending or revoking its licence pursuant to section 159(1) of the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021
      2. an active or outstanding Director’s order(s) as a result of enforcement action but does not include a Director’s order from an appeals process (for example, a Director’s review)
    2. In order to receive QAP Funding, each long-term care home must notify the MLTC Strategic Business Planning and Finance Branch of its accreditation status. The notification must include a copy of a letter from the accreditor that reflects the start and end dates of the effective period of accreditation.
    3. All funding is subject to adjustment, as per the LTCH Reconciliation and Recovery Policy.
    4. Despite section 3.1, where an LTCH is duly accredited with one accreditor and the operator decides at the end of the effective period of accreditation to seek accreditation from an alternate accreditor recognized by the ministry under section 3.1(I) and provides notification of that intention to the ministry, the long-term care home may retain the QAP funding up to a maximum of ten (10) months from the expiry date of the most recent accreditation, provided the condition specified in section 3.1(II) is met during the 10 month period.
    5. An LTCH electing not to seek renewal of its accreditation must notify the MLTC immediately upon making such decision and will not be eligible to retain QAP funding after the accreditation expires.