Resident's Rights

The Community Care and Assisted Living Act and the Assisted Living Regulation set out operators’ responsibilities to promote and protect residents’ health and safety in assisted living residences.

Respect for residents and for residents’ rights is one of the core principles of assisted living. Every resident has the right to always be treated with dignity and respect and to feel safe - physically and emotionally - in their assisted living home. Every responsibility that an operator holds towards their residents translates into residents’ rights.

Assisted living operators must also respect residents’ privacy and personal decisions and accommodate residents’ right to take risks — provided that those risks do not place other residents or staff in jeopardy.

Residents have the right to …

• Be treated with dignity and respect
• Make their own decisions as capable adults
• Protection and promotion of their health, safety and well-being
• Participate in the development and implementation of plans that affect them personally
• Services that are tailored specifically for them on the basis of their unique capabilities, needs and cultural and spiritual preferences
• Services that are delivered by qualified staff with the skills to work with adults who need their support
• Be kept informed of planned events, changes in the residence or services
• Fair process to express their concerns, make complaints or resolve disputes

In addition, operators have a responsibility to:

• Post a statement of the rights of residents, specific to each class of residence and each residence, in a prominent place in the residence
• Respect residents’ decision making, privacy and personal information
• Ensure residents can make a complaint or express their concerns and work to address the issue