Quebec government announces $2.6B investment to revamp seniors' homes

Seniors residences and long-term care facilities across Quebec will be getting a facelift, the province's seniors' minister announced Tuesday.

Marguerite Blais, the minister responsible for seniors and informal caregivers, said that more than 2,500 of the facilities, known in French as CHSLDs, will be renovated or rebuilt to "better adapt" to the needs of seniors and staff.

The project will cost an estimated $2.6 billion.

The facilities are meant for seniors with a "moderate" loss of autonomy, until they lack "major" autonomy.

The new spaces will have larger single rooms with a private washroom and adapted showers. One block within a facilitywill be comprised of living units housing 12 residents who share "similar characteristics and interests."

The buildings are purposefully designed not to resemble hospitals, with nursing stations as hidden as possible. There will also be outdoor spaces and common areas dedicated to caregivers.

The "more attractive and functional" work environments are also intended to help the chronically short-staffed CHSLDs retain employees.

"We will provide a real living environment for the people who live there, and for the staff who work there," Blais said in a statement.

The new project is set to create an additional 2,600 places by 2022, Blais said.