Office of the Assisted Living Registrar

Exiting from an Assisted Living Residence: If a Resident’s Health Changes

Residents cannot continue to be housed safely in assisted living if they:

• are no longer able to make decisions related to key areas of function, unless a spouse lives with the resident and is willing and able to make decisions on their behalf;
• are no longer able to express their wishes so as to be understood by staff or by a spouse living with them who can communicate with staff on their behalf;
• behave in a way that jeopardizes the health and safety of others; or
• their needs exceed what can be provided in assisted living.

If it is concluded that a resident can no longer be housed safely in a particular assisted living residence, he or she will need to move to a more appropriate setting. Depending on the circumstances, the resident could move to an assisted living residence that provides additional services (e.g., wheelchair-accessibility or both scheduled personal assistance and unscheduled personal assistance), to a family home, a community care facility or a hospital. To assist with the transfer, the operator must develop an exit plan in consultation with the resident and their family, physician, support network and health authority case manager (in the case of publicly subsidized assisted living). The exit plan sets out the resident’s relocation plan, who is responsible for the arrangements and what additional services will be put in place in the intervening period to ensure the resident’s health and safety is not in jeopardy while awaiting transfer.

During the transition period before moving, a resident may negotiate additional services from the operator, including short-term professional care.

If a health authority case manager assesses the resident as being eligible for placement in a community care facility, the local health authority may also provide additional services to support the person while they await transfer, just as it would if the person were living in their own home.