Packing and moving is something 72-year-old Suzanne Cyr didn’t think she would ever have to do again when she moved into the Mont-Carmel residence on René-Lévesque Boulevard four year ago.
“There is so many things I find interesting in this area,” she says. “I love being downtown. It’s my paradise.”
In January, Cyr along along with almost 200 other residents of the private seniors home received a letter informing them the new owner is planning to convert the building into private apartments for all age groups.
Rent for tenants will increase and services such as 24/7 nursing care, an around-the-clock reception office and a beauty salon will close.
“We are losing everything that made this place great,” she says.
This is becoming increasingly common across Quebec. Private seniors’ homes, also known as RPAs, are closing at an alarming rate because owners simply can’t afford to run them anymore and have no choice but to to sell to real estate developers.
Marc Fortin with the Quebec Seniors Housing Group says the current model doesn’t work anymore. Labour shortages, rising cost of insurance and inflation are to blame, he says.
“It’s about putting the right structure in place so the businesses will strive,” Fortin said. “They will be able to hire more people, create more jobs and take care of our elders.”
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According to the most recent assessment by the RQRA, nearly 150 RPAs across the province have closed their doors since January 2021 and the trend is expected to continue.
“We’ve got between 35,000 and 37,000 new elders that are coming into the group for the next 10-12 years,” said Fortin. “That’s a lot of elders that are going to need housing, help, health care, support — we can’t just magically hire enough people to make it work.”
Fortin says lots will be need to be done in the coming years but the Quebec government must keep the $4 hourly bonuses to private PABs announced at the beginning of the pandemic.
The RQRA says keeping the bonus will at the very least help in the short term while more permanent solutions are taken.
Quebec announced it will no longer be paying the $4 bonus as of April 16.
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