Ontario Nursing Homes Badly Prepared for COVID-19 Pandemic, Auditor General Says

Crosses are displayed outside the Camilla Care Community centre marking the deaths of multiple people that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mississauga, Ont., on May 26, 2020. Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press

TORONTO—Ontario’s nursing homes were woefully unprepared for the onslaught of COVID-19—the culmination of years of neglect and failure to address known problems, the province’s auditor general said on Wednesday.

In a special report, Bonnie Lysyk took aim at overcrowding, poor ministry oversight, and a severe staffing shortage that existed even before the pandemic struck.