Dear CALTC Members,

As we begin October, CALTC once again has a busy month ahead with several important member and advocacy activities taking place across the country. CALTC’s Ottawa meeting will be an important opportunity for member engagement, while the upcoming Federal-Provincial-Territorial (FPT) Health Ministers’ Meeting in Winnipeg on October 15 and 16, provides another important opportunity to advance our advocacy priorities.

Thank you to CALTC members for participating in the advocacy effort by sending the letter to your provincial Minister of Health and for sharing the advocacy toolkit with your provincial members. I also recently participated in the Santis podcast, From the Burgundy Chairs, where I discussed the same issues highlighted in our advocacy letter. The episode is expected to air one week ahead of the FPT Health Ministers’ Meeting.

CALTC has also been invited to attend a policy breakfast hosted by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) in conjunction with the FPT meeting being hosted in Winnipeg. The event will feature remarks from Dr. Samir Sinha and will include a presentation comparing elder care between Canada and Denmark. I am pleased that Sue Vovchuk, a CALTC Board member based in Winnipeg, will attend on behalf of CALTC. Thank you to Sue for representing CALTC at this event.

In other federal advocacy news, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance recently released its report from its spring consultations on the 2026 federal budget. The report contains 130 recommendations, including 23 related to health and life sciences. Of these, three recommendations are of particular interest to the long-term care sector: increasing access to permanent residency programs and renewing work permits, renewing bilateral agreements with provinces, and considering the needs of an aging population in the allocation of health transfers. The full report, is available here.

Work on the National Survey on Long-Term Care report is now largely complete, and we are anticipating its release on October 20. I have received a few requests from CALTC association members to have access to the survey data for their province. The researcher has accommodated these requests, with appropriate steps taken to ensure that individual respondents cannot be identified. These jurisdiction-specific reports will be distributed to members over the next few days.

Finally, I will be attending the ACCA Annual Conference in Calgary next week. I look forward to seeing many CALTC members who will also be attending!

Sincerely,
Jodi

Dear CALTC Members,

Work undertaken over the summer is coming together to support a productive fall for CALTC.

First, planning for our Ottawa meeting is progressing well, including the Parliamentary Breakfast and our strategic plan review session. Yesterday, I circulated the final draft of the National Survey on Long-Term Care report, and invitations to the Parliamentary Breakfast are now being distributed across government with the support of MP Ernie Klasson, who is sponsoring the event. I am also working with Santis to identify other allied organizations that would be appropriate to invite.

The Parliamentary Breakfast will provide an important opportunity to share the findings of the National Survey on Long-Term Care with parliamentarians and government stakeholders, while also providing an important advocacy opportunity during our Ottawa meeting.

Thank you as well to everyone who completed the survey regarding CALTC’s current strategic plan. Your feedback will help inform our strategic plan review session in Ottawa and will be an important part of our discussions about CALTC’s priorities for the coming years.

We continue to monitor developments related to tariffs and any potential impacts on the long-term care sector. Parliament returns for the fall session on September 21, and we have seen caucus meetings taking place over the past few weeks in advance of the return.

Immigration will also remain an important area of focus. The federal Immigration Levels Plan must be tabled in Parliament no later than November 1. CALTC participated in the federal consultation surveys over the summer and used our existing policy position on immigration to inform our submissions. We will continue to monitor developments and assess their potential implications for the LTC sector.

We will also be watching for the federal budget, which is expected during the fall session. CALTC submitted a pre-budget submission, which was circulated to members for feedback, and we will continue to engage with government as the budget process moves forward.

Thank you to CALTC members for participating in our latest advocacy initiative in getting out the advocacy toolkit to LTC homes and sending out the template letter to your provincial Minister for the upcoming October FPT Health Ministers meeting. The last recommended date to send out these letters is September 25th.

I look forward to seeing many of you in Ottawa soon and to a productive fall for CALTC.

Sincerely,
Jodi

Dear CALTC Members,

The past few weeks have been marked by significant political activity, particularly as negotiations toward a tariff agreement with the United States unfolded and ultimately broke down, leading to the Government of Canada’s announcement regarding the implementation of counter-tariffs. I have made inquiries with several organizations regarding the potential impact of tariffs on long-term care homes. At this stage, concerns have been raised about anticipated cost increases for dairy products and certain packaging materials. In addition, Santis attended a tariff forum hosted by the Department of Finance, where participants highlighted the potential risk of escalating costs for healthcare infrastructure development. CALTC will continue to monitor these developments closely and engage with government on any healthcare-related tariff relief programs to ensure that long-term care homes are eligible for appropriate support. Santis has prepared a memo summarizing key discussions from the tariff forum, click here to view.

Political activity continued this week with three by-elections, with an additional six expected in the near future. Santis has also prepared a memo outlining the outcomes of the recent by-elections, click here to review the document for your reference.

The report from CALTC’s National Survey on Long-Term Care, conducted this past spring, is taking shape. I have now reviewed an early draft with the research team, and additional revisions are underway. I anticipate having a final draft to share with CALTC members by mid-September at the latest. The report will remain under embargo until CALTC’s breakfast event on October 20, which will take place as part of our face-to-face meeting in Ottawa. The breakfast will be held in the Valour Building and requires the sponsorship of a Member of Parliament. MP Ernie Klassen (South Surrey—White Rock, British Columbia), Co-Chair of the Liberal Seniors Caucus and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries, has kindly agreed to sponsor the event. Planning is continuing, and I hope to share a final detailed agenda with members soon.

I would also like to remind members that the deadline to reserve a hotel room at CALTC’s group rate for the Ottawa meeting is September 18th. Only a limited number of reservations have been made, so I encourage all members planning to attend to book their accommodations as soon as possible. The booking link can be found here.

Finally, I would like to encourage all CALTC members to complete the survey on progress toward CALTC’s Strategic Plan as we prepare for a strategic review session during our Ottawa meeting. The survey is open to all CALTC members, and responses are anonymous. To date, six surveys have been completed. To provide additional time for participation, the deadline has been extended to September 11. The survey can be found here. Your feedback will be valuable in helping inform our discussion and future priorities.

Thank you for your continued engagement and support. I look forward to seeing many of you in Ottawa next month.

Sincerely,
Jodi