New home will bring 288 modern long-term care beds to the community
NEWS – June 10, 2026 – For Immediate Release
WASAGA BEACH, ON – This afternoon, Brian Saunderson, MPP for Simcoe-Grey announced that the Ontario government is adding 288 long-term care beds as part of the new peopleCare Wasaga Home in the Town of Wasaga Beach. This project is part of the government’s plan to protect Ontario by creating good jobs and building for the future, while ensuring long-term care residents get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve.
“Today marks another milestone moment for the community of Wasaga Beach,” said MPP Saunderson. “Wasaga Beach will soon have a long-term care home, an important addition that will help meet the needs of a growing community while allowing more residents to remain close to family and local support networks.”
“Our government is improving long-term care by building more homes, hiring more staff, and protecting those who reside in them,” said Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long-Term Care. “Once complete, this building will provide 288 people a new home where they can receive the care they need, when they need it.”
This project is part of the Ontario government’s continued progress toward its commitment to build 58,000 new and redeveloped long-term care beds across the province, outlined in the 2025 Ontario Budget: A Plan to Protect Ontario. The government is fixing long-term care to ensure Ontarians get the quality of care and quality of life they need and deserve. The plan to improve care is built on four pillars: staffing and care; quality and enforcement; building modern, safe, and comfortable homes; and connecting seniors with faster, more convenient access to the services they need.
QUOTES
“This 288-bed LTC allocation is fantastic news for seniors and families in Wasaga Beach and throughout the region,” says Brent Gingerich, Chairman and CEO of peopleCare. “We sincerely thank MPP Saunderson, Minister Kusendova-Bashta and the Ontario government for continuing to invest in LTC and for enabling experienced, leading senior living organizations like peopleCare to deliver the modern homes and care capacity Ontario seniors need.”
~ Brent Gingerich, Chairman & CEO, peopleCare Communities
“This is a tremendous victory for our community and a landmark healthcare investment for Wasaga Beach,” said Mayor Brian Smith. “When Council identified long-term care as a priority, we took action — working with peopleCare to identify locations, support planning, and bring a shovel-ready proposal to Queen’s Park. Today, Wasaga Beach is welcoming its first long-term care home, the largest in the region, along with good local jobs. Most importantly, more seniors will be able to receive the care they need close to family and friends, in the community they love. I want to thank Minister Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, MPP Brian Saunderson, peopleCare Communities, and all partners who helped make this possible.”
~ Brian Smith, Mayor, Town of Wasaga Beach
“We thank the Government of Ontario for continuing to invest in the health and well-being of our residents, and for ensuring we have the homes and care our seniors need. Simcoe County, and Wasaga Beach in particular, has one of the highest proportion of seniors in the province, and we’re pleased to see continued investments in their wellbeing. Through this and other long-term care and seniors’ developments across the County, including our own Simcoe Village redevelopment in the southern part of the region, we’re helping to ensure quality care and quality of life for our loved ones.”
~ Basil Clarke, Warden, County of Simcoe
QUICK FACTS
- As of April 2026, 165 projects representing a total of 26,421 new and redeveloped beds are completed, under construction or have ministry approval to start construction across the province.
- The government is continuing its ambitious and extensive long-term care construction campaign with the 2025 Long-Term Care Home Capital Funding Policy and Capital Funding Program (CFP). The CFP provides a funding framework that better reflects regional cost variations while addressing diverse operator needs within the long-term care sector.
- The CFP replaced the construction funding subsidy (CFS) and the time-limited CFS top-up that were introduced in 2022 and resulted in the largest construction of long-term care projects the government has achieved in a single year.
- The province is taking innovative steps to get long-term care homes built, including modernizing its funding model, selling unused lands with the requirement that long-term care homes be built on portions of the properties, and leveraging hospital-owned land to build urgently needed homes in large urban areas.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
2025 Long-Term Care Home Capital Funding Policy