Community Care and Assisted Living Act

The Community Care and Assisted Living Act replaced the Community Care Facility Act on May 14, 2004.

The new Act continues licensing for community care facilities that provide care to vulnerable, dependent people in child day care, child/youth residential and adult residential settings. It establishes a new registration process for assisted living residences that accommodate seniors and persons with disabilities who receive housing, hospitality, personal assistance services and can direct their own care.

Assisted living residences are a premise, or part of a premise, where housing, hospitality services and one or two prescribed services are provided by or through an operator to three or more unrelated adults. They provide housing and a range of supportive services for adults who can live independently but require regular help with day-to-day activities. The Assisted Living Registrar will maintain a registry of assisted living residences and investigate health and safety concerns.

Licensed community care facilities are a premise, or part of a premise, where care is provided to three or more unrelated persons. For children and youth, ‘care’ is in the form of prescribed programs such as child day care or child/youth residential care. For adults, ‘care’ is in the form of three or more prescribed services.

Prescribed services include:

• Regular assistance with activities of daily living, including eating, mobility dressing, grooming, bathing or personal hygiene.
• Central storage of medication, distribution of medication, administering medication or monitoring the taking of medication.
• Maintenance or management of cash resources or other property.
• Monitoring of food intake or of adherence to therapeutic diets
• Structured behaviour management and intervention.
• Psychosocial rehabilitative therapy or intensive physical rehabilitative therapy.

Most of the Act is now in effect, except for those sections related to the registration of assisted living residences and to the regulation of private hospitals and public extended care facilities currently licensed under the Hospital Act.

• Operators of all assisted living residences, whether publicly or privately funded, will be required to register with the provincial Office of the Assisted Living Registrar by Sept. 30, 2004.
• The proposed regulation of private hospitals and public extended care facilities, currently licensed under Part 2 the Hospital Act, is anticipated to come into force in 2005/06, following further consultation and planning.

The existing Adult Care Regulations and Child Care Licensing Regulation currently in force under the Community Care Facility Act are continued under the new Community Care and Assisted Living Act.
Amendments (PDF 751KB) to both of these regulations were made concurrently with bringing the new Act into force. Minor amendments to both the Adult Care Regulations and the Child Care Licensing Regulation include:

• Definitions: A number of obsolete definitions are repealed and substituted with definitions consistent with the terminology of the CCALA.
• Exemptions: Section 16 of the Act permits the Medical Health Officer (MHO) to grant an exemption from a requirement of the Act or regulation, provided that there is no increased risk to health or safety of persons in care. Licensees who need an exemption should contact their health authority licensing program for assistance.

Amendments to the Child Care Licensing Regulation:

• Director of the Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Registry: Provisions for the appointment of a Director of the ECE Registry and a new process through which the Director may vary, suspend or cancel an early childhood educator certificate.
• Letters of Permission: A new section regarding the repeal of letters of permission which ensures that existing letters will remain in effect until the earlier of either the expiry date on the letter or June 1, 2005.
• Reportable Incidents: A new schedule of reportable incidents, similar to that in the Adult Care Regulation, has been added.
• Repeal and Replacement of Parts 1 and 2: To facilitate the above changes, Parts 1 and 2 of the Child Care Licensing Regulation have been repealed, replaced and some section numbers have changed.

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