The long-term care waiting list in Ontario, explained

It is not first-come, first-served

When you apply, you choose up to five homes and join each home’s waiting list. Your order on a list is set by a placement category, not by the date you applied. Ontario Health atHome ranks every applicant under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021.

The placement categories

Applicants are ranked into categories, highest priority first:

Crisis

People who need immediate admission and whose needs cannot be met at home, including some patients waiting in hospital.

Reunification

A spouse or partner seeking to live in the same home as a partner who has already been admitted.

Religious, ethnic, or linguistic

Applicants to a home that serves a particular religious, ethnic, or cultural community they belong to.

High needs and general

The remaining applicants, ranked by care needs and how well they are managing at home with support.

Veterans

Veterans applying to homes that have designated veteran-priority beds.

Why waits vary so much

Wait times depend on the home’s size, how many people are ahead of you in your category, the room type you want, and how often beds turn over. A sought-after home can have hundreds of people waiting, while a less in-demand home moves faster. Every home page on this site shows its most recently reported waiting-list figure, and you can sort the search by waiting list to compare.

You can be on the list for up to five homes at once. When a bed is offered you have only 24 hours to accept, so it helps to think through your choices in advance. See how to apply for the full process.