The number of seniors in our province is expected to grow from 2.4 million today to 4.5 million by 2040. Seniors have unique needs and, along with their families, many struggle with added costs related to health care and well-being.

To help seniors live healthy, independent and active lives, Ontario is increasing access to home and community care, supporting seniors living independently, making prescription drugs free for everyone 65 and over through OHIP+, and investing in hospital services and long-term care supports.

Free Prescriptions 65+

Making prescriptions completely free for everyone 65 and over through OHIP+, ensuring that no senior citizen ever needs to go without necessary drugs. By eliminating the Ontario Drug Benefit annual deductible and co-pay, this saves the average Ontario senior $240 per year.

Better Long-Term Care

Creating 30,000 new long-term care beds over the next 10 years to help people who can no longer live independently — and provide peace of mind for people who care for them.

Seniors’ Healthy Home Program

This new program recognizes the costs associated with older seniors living at home, where they want to be. It provides a benefit of up to $750 annually for eligible households led by seniors 75 and over to help them live independently and offset the costs of maintaining their homes.


Free prescriptions

Ontario is:

  • Making prescriptions completely free for everyone 65 and over through OHIP+, ensuring that no senior citizen ever needs to go without necessary drugs. By eliminating the Ontario Drug Benefit annual deductible and co-pay, this saves the average Ontario senior $240 per year. This follows the introduction of free prescriptions for everyone under the age of 25 in the 2017 Ontario Budget. With this expansion, prescription drugs will now be free for nearly one in two Ontarians, approximately 6.4 million people.
  • Covering over 4,400 prescription drugs through OHIP+, such as medications for high cholesterol, hypertension, thyroid conditions, diabetes and asthma.

Seniors’ Healthy Home Program

Ontario is:

  • Introducing the new Seniors’ Healthy Home Program. This recognizes the costs associated with older seniors living at home, where they want to be. It provides a benefit of up to $750 annually for eligible households led by seniors 75 and over to help them live independently and offset the costs of maintaining their homes.
  • Improving the quality of life for seniors when illness or reduced mobility might affect their ability to maintain a home.
  • Consulting with seniors groups and other stakeholders on the design of the program, including what specific types of expenses should be eligible.

More care for seniors

Ontario is:

  • Creating 30,000 new long-term care beds over the next 10 years — adding 5,000 new beds by 2022 — to help people who can no longer live independently and provide peace of mind for people who care for them. These new beds are in addition to the 30,000 existing beds being redeveloped.
  • Improving our hospitals by providing better access to care, reducing wait times and addressing capacity issues through an additional $822-million investment in 2018–19 — the largest single government investment in hospitals in almost a decade. The province is also investing approximately $19 billion over 10 years to build and renovate hospitals to provide more and faster health care for people.
  • Increasing the amount of daily care each person in a long-term care home receives to an average of four hours.
  • Improving care for 14,000 people newly diagnosed with dementia, regardless of where they live.
  • Providing more access to home and community health care services, including 2.8 million more hours of personal support and 284,000 more nursing visits, through a $650-million investment over three years.

Helping seniors live healthy, active lives

Ontario is:

  • Making it easier for seniors to access government services, including a new one-stop website and 24-hour phone service in over 150 languages.
  • Helping seniors stay active and connected to their communities by supporting and expanding a network of seniors’ active living centres across the province.
  • Providing 200 new subsidies to enable seniors to rent affordable housing, and get home and community care.
  • Continuing to respond to elder abuse with improved access to community services, and supporting the delivery of public education and service-provider training.
Updated: April 11, 2019
Published: March 28, 2018