In the first eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 80 percent of Canadian deaths occurred in long-term care facilities. There have been calls for the federal government to play a stronger role, but this is complicated by the fact that provinces have adopted a wide range of long-term care policies. This new report by Carolyn Tuhoy for the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation presents the idea that nevertheless, governments could bring new resources and regulatory tools to these challenges by drawing on the untapped possibilities of Canadian federalism. The most promising path lies in areas of concurrent jurisdiction in which both orders of government have an established presence, a history of joint decision-making and action, and the infrastructure that makes this possible. If we do not act now, the failings exposed by the pandemic will continue to take their toll on the lives of Canada’s most vulnerable citizens.
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March 10, 2021