The Government of Alberta announced it will be continue to provide partial financial relief for long-term care and supportive living residents in November.
In a news release on Wednesday morning, the province said it is giving $11 million to help seniors fight inflationary increases to accommodation costs from Nov. 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023.
Accommodation fees include services like rooms, meals, laundry, housekeeping, utilities, building maintenance and general administration.
The funding is in addition to the $14 million in financial relief for residents from July 1 to Oct. 31 this year.
The province said residents’ accommodations will only increase by 3.2 per cent during this time period, compared to this year’s rate of 5.5 per cent. The government will pay operators the remaining 2.3 per cent on behalf of residents.
The government said the partial relief is necessary and residents would be hit with the full increase on Nov. 1 without it.
“We recognize inflation is affecting everyone, especially residents and operators of continuing care. Operators are experiencing much higher costs this year due to the higher inflation rate and we are taking extra measures to support residents in publicly funded continuing care homes by subsidizing a portion of their accommodation costs for the year,” Health Minister Jason Copping said in a statement on Wednesday.
Effective July 1, based on the 5.5 per cent increase, the average monthly cost of a private room in Alberta will be $2,249, or $73.95 per day.
A semi-private space will cost about $1,957 per month or $64 per day, according to the province.
–With files from Caley Gibson, Global News