One of Ontario's largest long-term care facilities is reducing its workforce, a move that has sparked protests and raised serious concerns about the quality of care for seniors and veterans. Perley Health in Ottawa is set to eliminate 51 positions, a decision that will directly impact frontline healthcare staff.
Details of the Staffing Cuts
The cuts, announced in early January 2026, include 38 unionized positions and 13 non-unionized jobs. According to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents the workers, the roles being terminated include 18 registered practical nurses (RPNs) and 14 personal support workers (PSWs). Dozens of union members held a rally outside the facility on Wednesday to protest the reductions and call for increased healthcare funding.
Patty Lowe, a personal support worker and the local union president, voiced the staff's distress. "How can this government talk about 'fixing' long-term care while the Perley eliminates 38 vital positions?" she asked. "Do they have any idea how much suffering the residents will have to bear due to these cuts?"
Management's Rationale vs. Worker Concerns
Perley Health spokesperson Jay Innes stated that the organization is not facing direct funding cuts, though special COVID-19 pandemic funding has ended. He explained the job eliminations are intended "to ensure we continue delivering high-quality care to the seniors and veterans who call our community home." Innes emphasized that the core nursing and personal care model remains intact and that the facility continues to meet all provincial staffing and care requirements.
However, these assurances clash sharply with the experiences reported by staff. A recent union survey found that 69% of workers at Perley Health did not believe their units were staffed well enough to provide good-quality resident care. Furthermore, the survey revealed alarming rates of workplace violence, with 17% of workers facing physical violence daily and another 16% facing it at least once a week—issues the union directly links to inadequate staffing levels.
Potential Impact on Care and Next Steps
Healthcare workers argue that the cuts will have a detrimental effect on resident care by increasing workloads, reducing the time available for direct patient interaction, and contributing to staff burnout. "Our residents deserve more than minimum standards," Lowe said. "They deserve human connection, which you cannot provide when positions are being slashed."
Perley Health, which cares for over 600 individuals in long-term care and independent living settings, employs roughly 1,000 people, about 700 of whom are unionized. Both management and the union have stated they are working to minimize actual layoffs through retirements and attrition. Innes confirmed, "Our shared goal is to minimize job loss as much as possible." Despite this, the elimination of these positions casts a shadow over the future of care at a facility long recognized for its innovative programs.
