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Four out of five COVID-19 deaths have been linked to seniors homes. That says a lot about how Canada regards its elders – National Post

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What went wrong? What can Canada do to fix it before the next wave hits? This look at the tragedy in Canada’s long term care homes and the emergency measures to protect the most vulnerable is part of the Post’s ongoing Lessons from a Pandemic series.

From the first COVID-19 outbreak in British Columbia to the devastation in Ontario and Quebec, seniors in long term care have been hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.

The causes for this are not only demographic and epidemiological. They also reveal the weak points of an elder care system that has long been recognized as failing, but never actually made to succeed, until it was too late.

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Now Canada’s long term care home system is being remade on the fly through emergency legislation to cope with the pandemic.

Canadian Forces troops are deployed to help as long as needed, to maintain what Ontario Premier Doug Ford called an “iron ring” around long term care homes.


North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley Care Centre where Canada’s first known COVID-19 death occurred on March 8.

Jennifer Gauthier/Reuters/File

Provincial laws have been drawn up to staff long term care homes with more casual labour with lower training requirements, and to loosen the complaint reporting requirements on private management. There are political noises about long term fixes, and major disagreements are being staked out on the role of private providers. What those reforms look like, if they ever come, will say a lot about how Canada regards its seniors.

Canada’s first known death in this pandemic occurred on March 8, when a man in his 80s died at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver.

Briefly, that site was the focus of the public concern, until new focal points emerged — the Pinecrest Nursing Home in Bobcaygeon, Ont., the Résidence Herron in Dorval, Que. — until they all became single stars in a countrywide constellation of seniors home outbreaks, many of them completely overrun by infections, people dying in some cases faster than their bodies could be removed.

Quebec has called in more than 1,000 military medical personnel such as nurses and paramedics, Ontario a smaller number, backed by support troops, which Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan said was “not a typical Canadian Armed Forces operation.”


A Canadian soldier aids a resident at the Vigi Queen Elizabeth care centre in Montreal.

Genevieve Beaulieu/Canadian Armed Forces/AFP via Getty Images

More than four out of five deaths, or approximately 4,000, have been of seniors in long term care homes, plus significant numbers of staff.

The vast over-representation of long term care home residents in Canada’s death toll has revealed a terrible aspect of the pandemic —  that the weakest and most vulnerable in our society are in the most dangerous places.

The institutionalized elderly are a unique class, not quite like inmates in prisons, who are being punished, and not quite like patients in hospitals, who are surrounded by the trappings of high level medical care.

Rather, through nothing more than their own age and infirmity, they are forced to endure the greatest exposure to the coronavirus risk, to live communally with other victims, surrounded by cinderblock walls, attended to by overwhelmed staff who turn to overwhelmed private management for support, and do not always get it, as new litigation has revealed.

In some segments of society, the pandemic’s heavy burden on the aged has created a selfish optimism among the relatively young and healthy, especially in America, where loyalists of President Donald Trump aim to justify an economic re-opening, despite the continued preventable deaths of society’s most accomplished and experienced members.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been more empathetic in his messaging about the problem, but was clear not to take over federal responsibility for it, offering only to “help the provinces find lasting solutions” to these “serious, underlying challenges.”

“COVID-19 has exposed some uncomfortable truths about our society, including how we care for seniors in Canada,” Trudeau said this week. “We’ve seen heartbreaking tragedies in long term care facilities and nursing homes right across the country. Overworked staff, understaffed residences, grieving families.”

Jagmeet Singh, the federal NDP leader, told CTV’s Question Period that Canada should end the private provision of long term care and bring all such homes under new federal regulation.

“I think we need to end them, I think there’s no question about it given the results we’re seeing, the evidence we’re seeing that some of the worst conditions that seniors are in and some of the highest deaths have happened in the for-profit long term care homes,” he said

His suggestion illustrated a broad theme of pandemic response in Canada, which is that it has largely been a provincial patchwork rather than a coordinated national program, especially on matters that are federally funded but constitutionally under provincial control, such as health care and education.

This is also partly the result of Toronto’s SARS outbreak in 2003, and efforts by provinces since then to update their emergency management legislation.

But even that is being done again on the fly, in response to new crises and disagreements over how to handle the pandemic at the institutional level.

Ontario moved this week to give the provincial government authority to replace management at long term care homes, but has not used the new power. The Ford government also said it would review its long term care system after the pandemic, but only internally, not via a public or independent inquiry. Minister of Long Term Care Merrilee Fullerton said all forms of review are “on the table.”

“We know the system’s broken,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said. “We’re going to have a complete review, not just of long term care — I think the whole system of government.”

The problems are not just systemic, they are also architectural. Radio-Canada reported this week that the Vigi Mont-Royal home in Montreal was completely infected, with every single resident and 148 workers testing positive, according to an internal document, which noted a ventilation system was faulty and need to be cleaned and repaired.

We know the system’s broken

Many homes have residents in shared rooms, with common eating areas and washrooms, on wards that were not designed to facilitate isolation.

The problems are also legal, about workers rights and the ability of an industry to protect those who carry out its most crucial functions of feeding and caring for the elderly.

One long term care home in Niagara Falls has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit over its handling of an outbreak that killed 18 residents, for allegedly failing to train staff and having them move between patient rooms in the same protective gowns.

There is a similar dispute by registered nurses working at four privately owned long term care homes in Ontario, who allege management failed to provide personal protective equipment and failed to launch pre-existing pandemic plans, resulting in widespread exposure of uninfected people to symptomatic patients who had not yet formally tested positive. In some cases, staff were allegedly forced to care for patients who were confirmed positive wearing only surgical masks.

They filed union grievances, but that system takes too long to resolve, so the Ontario Nurses Association asked Ontario Superior Court for what Judge Ed Morgan described as an “unusual” form of urgent action from the bench.

Morgan was scathing as he granted the nurses request and ordered the homes to obey a provincial government directive about providing personal protective equipment.


Words of encouragement and thanks for frontline workers are seen on a fence at Anson Place Care Centre in Hagersville, Ont. More than a dozen residents of the long-term care centre and retirement home have died of COVID-19.

Peter J. Thompson/National Post

The long term care homes had unsuccessfully argued that the balance of convenience should favour their interests, because if nurses decide who gets masks, the entire province could suffer a shortage. As Judge Morgan put it, the long term care homes “suggest that nurses and other medical staff treating COVID-19 patients in LTC homes represent their own narrow, personal interests, while the privately-owned LTC homes represent broad, community-based interests.”

The judge was having none of that.

“I can imagine that the irony of that submission is not lost on the (nurses),” he wrote. “One need only read the affidavits of the individual nurses in this Application record to understand that they spend their working days, in particular during the current emergency situation, sacrificing their personal interests to those of the people under their care. And given the nature of the pandemic, they do this not only for the immediate benefit of their patients but for the benefit of society at large. To suggest that their quest for the masks, protective gear, and cohorting that they view as crucial to the lives and health of themselves and their patients represents a narrow, private interest seems to sorely miss the mark.”

Canada’s latest national numbers show 70 per cent of deaths from COVID-19 have been of people over 80, and 25 per cent of people between 60 and 79.

• Email: jbrean@nationalpost.com | Twitter:

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Calgary breaks all-time record in housing starts but increasing demand keeps inventory low – CBC.ca

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Soaring housing demands in Calgary led to an all-time record for new residential builds last year, but inventory levels of completed and unsold units remained low due to demand outpacing supply.

According to the latest report from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), total housing starts increased by 13 per cent in Calgary, reaching a total of 19,579 units with growth across all dwelling types in the city.

That compares to a decline of 0.5 per cent overall for housing starts in the six major Canadian cities surveyed by CMHC.

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Calgary also had the highest housing starts by population.

“Part of the reason why we think that might have happened is that developers are responding to low vacancies in the rental market,” said Adebola Omosola, a housing economics specialist with CMHC.

“The population of Calgary is still growing, a record number of people moved here last year, and we still expect that to remain at least in the short term.”

Earlier this year, the Calgary Real Estate Board also predicted that demand, especially for rental apartments, wouldn’t let up any time soon. 

Industry can cope with demand, expert says

According to numbers from the report, average construction times were higher in 2023 for all dwelling types except for apartments.

The agency’s report suggests the increase in the number of under-construction residential projects might mean builders are operating at or near full capacity.

However, there’s optimism the construction industry can match the increasing need.

Brian Hahn, CEO of BILD Calgary Region, said despite concerns around about construction costs, project timelines and labour shortages, the industry has kept up with the demand for new builds.

Demand is expected to remain robust, but the construction industry can keep up, according to BILD Calgary region CEO Brian Hahn.
Demand is expected to remain robust, but the construction industry can keep up, according to BILD Calgary Region chief executive officer Brian Hahn. (Shaun Best/Reuters)

“I’ve heard that kind of conversation at the end of 2022 and I heard it in 2023,” Hahn said.

“Yet here we are early in 2024, and January and February were record numbers again.”

Hahn added he believes the current pace of construction will continue for at least the next six months and that the industry is looking at initiatives to attract more people to the trades.

Increase in row house and apartment construction

Construction growth was largely driven by new apartment projects, making up almost half of the housing starts in Calgary in 2023.

The federal housing agency says 9,034 apartment units were started that year, an increase of 17 per cent from the previous year. Of those, about 54 per cent were purpose-built rentals.

Apartments made up around two-thirds of all units under construction, CMHC said, with the total number of units under construction reaching 23,473.

Growth, however, was seen across all dwelling types. Row homes increased by 34 per cent from the previous year while groundbreaking on single-detached homes grew by two per cent.

“Notwithstanding challenges, our members and the industry counterparts that support them managed to produce a record amount of starts and completions,” Hahn said.

“I have little doubt that the industry will do their very best to keep pace at those levels.”

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Ottawa real estate: House starts down, apartments up in 2023 – CTV News Ottawa

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Rental housing dominated construction in Ottawa last year, according to a new report from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Residential construction declined significantly in 2023, with housing starts dropping to 9,245 units, a 19.5 per cent decline from the record high observed in 2022. But while single-detached and row housing starts fell compared to 2022, new construction for rental units and condominiums rose.

“There’s been a shift toward rental construction over the past two years. Rental housing starts made up nearly one third of total starts in 2023, close to double the average of the previous five years,” the report stated.

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Apartment starts reached their highest level since the 1970s.

“The trend toward rental and condominium apartment construction follows increased demand in these market segments due to population growth, households looking for affordable options, and some seniors downsizing to smaller units,” the CMHC said.

Demand from international migration and students, the high cost of home ownership, and people moving to Ottawa from other parts of Ontario were the main drivers for rental housing starts in 2023. The CMHC says rental and condominium apartment starts made up 63 per cent of total starts in 2023, compared to the average of 37 per cent for the period 2018-2022.

There was a modest increase in rental housing starts in 2023 over the record-high seen the year prior and a jump in new condominiums. The report shows 5,846 new apartments were built in Ottawa last year, up 2.1 per cent compared to 2022.

Housing starts in Ottawa by year. (CMHC)

Big demand for condos

The CMHC said condo starts reached a new high in 2023, increasing 3 per cent from 2022 numbers.

“As of the end of 2023, there were only 13 completed and unsold condominium units, highlighting continued demand for new units,” the CMHC said.

Condominum starts increased in areas such as Chinatown, Hintonburg, Vanier and Alta Vista, as well as some suburban areas like Kanata, Stittsville, and western Orléans. Condo apartment construction declined in denser parts of the city like downtown, Lowertown and Centretown, the report says.

Taller buildings are also becoming more common, as the cranes dotting the skyline can attest. The CMHC notes that buildings with more than 20 storeys accounted for nearly 10 per cent of apartment structure starts in 2022 and 2023, compared to an average of 2 per cent over the 2017-2021 period. The number of units per building also rose 7 per cent compared to 2022.

Apartment building heights in Ottawa by year. (CMHC)

Single-detached home construction down significantly

The number of new single-detached homes built in Ottawa last year was the lowest level seen in the city since the mid 1990s, CMHC said.

“The Ottawa area experienced a slowdown in residential construction in 2023, driven by a significant decline in single-detached and row housing starts,” the CMHC said.

Single-detached housing starts were down 45 per cent compared to 2022. Row house starts dropped by 38 per cent compared to 2022, marking a third year of declines in a row.

“Demand for single-detached and row houses also declined in 2023. Higher mortgage rates and home prices have led to a shift in demand toward more affordable rental and condominium units,” the report said.

There were 1,535 single-detached housing starts in Ottawa last year, 208 new semi-detached homes and 1,678 new row houses.

The majority of single-detached and row housing starts were built in suburban communities such as Barrhaven, Stittsville, Kanata, Orléans and rural parts of the city.

“Increased construction costs resulting from higher financing rates and inflation that occurred in 2022 and 2023 contributed to the decline in construction in the region,” the CMHC said. 

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Trump’s media company ticker leads to fleeting windfall for some investors

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A man looks at a screen that displays trading information about shares of Truth Social and Trump Media & Technology Group, outside the Nasdaq Market site in New York City, U.S., March 26.Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Possible confusion over the new stock symbol for former President Donald Trump’s Truth Social (DJT-Q) saw some investor brokerage balances briefly jump by hundreds of thousands of dollars on Tuesday, the first day Trump’s “DJT” ticker traded.

Several people complained on social media about briefly seeing the value of their DJT stock holdings on Charles Schwab platforms inflated to figures more in line with what they would be worth if the shares traded at the level of the Dow Jones Transportation Average.

Some users said they faced a similar issue in pre-market hours on Morgan Stanley’s E*Trade trading platform.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group opened Tuesday at $70.90, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average started the session at 15,937.73 points.

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For one trader, the Schwab brokerage balance jumped by more than $1 million due to the error, according to a screen grab shared on social media platform X. Reuters was unable to contact the trader or independently verify the brokerage balance.

“It sure was nice seeing millions in the account, even if it wasn’t real,” another person, going by the username @DanielBenjamin8, who faced the issue in his E*Trade account, posted on X.

Two X users and one on Reddit surmised that the inflated balances were due to the ticker symbol for the company being nearly identical to the index.

A spokeswoman for Charles Schwab said that certain users on some of Schwab’s trading platforms saw their brokerage balances briefly inflated due to a technical issue.

The issue has been resolved and investors are able to trade equities and options on Schwab platforms, she said. Schwab declined to describe the exact cause of the issue.

E*Trade did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.

Trump Media & Technology Group and S&P Dow Jones Indices, which maintains the Dow Jones Transportation Average Index, did not immediately comment on the issue.

While social media users said the issue appeared to have been resolved, many rued not being able to cash out their supposed gains from the error.

“I better go tell my boss that I’m actually not retiring,” the trader whose account balance had briefly jump by more than $1 million, wrote on X.

Trump Media & Technology Group shares surged more than 36% on Tuesday in their debut on the Nasdaq that comes more than two years since its merger with a blank-check firm was announced.

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