How to read a long-term care inspection report

The parts of a report

The header

The report’s issue date, its inspection number, the type of inspection, and the named home and licensee (the company or organization licensed to operate it).

The summary

The dates the inspection covered, what prompted it, and the areas the inspector reviewed.

The findings

Each finding of non-compliance, numbered, with the specific rule cited (for example O. Reg. 246/22), the action taken (or none, if the home remedied it on the spot), a topic, and the inspector’s description of what was found. A compliance order also carries a deadline.

Sources

What the inspector relied on: records reviewed, people interviewed, and things observed.

What you will and will not find

Residents are anonymized, so you will not see resident names. The home and its licensee are named. The reports exist because the law requires inspection results to be disclosed publicly.

Reading it in context

Each inspection summary on this site is written in plain language to make a report easier to follow. The summaries are generated with assistance from AI and can contain mistakes. The original Ministry report is linked on every inspection and is the authoritative version. Where there is any difference, rely on the official report.

A report is a snapshot of one inspection. To weigh it, look at the home’s record over time and beside the Ontario average, both of which are shown on every home page.