The Impact of COVID-19 on Long-Term Care in Canada – The First 6 Months

COVID-19 has exacted a heavy price on Canada’s long-term care and retirement homes, resulting in a disproportionate number of outbreaks and deaths. This report follows the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s international comparisons report (June 2020) by taking a closer look at the pandemic experience in long-term care and how it compares between provinces and territories. The first part of the report presents early comparisons between the first and second waves in both long-term care and retirement homes. The second part focuses on the first 6 months of the pandemic in long-term care homes specifically, where older Canadians with the most complex health care needs reside.