This is a Personal Care Home (PCH) in Saskatoon, one of hundreds of similar projects in the province. They are privately owned facilities that usually although not always provide bed-sitting room type accommodation plus care for individuals requiring personal care usually but certainly not always at a lower level than that provided in Special Care Homes (nursing homes for people with complex care needs). Personal care homes must be licensed but are not deeply subsidized by government although there is a small benefit for lower income seniors.
Personal care homes as they operate in Saskatchewan are unique to the province. There are variations on the theme in other provinces but nothing quite like them anywhere else. Lodges in Alberta are part of the public sector. They provide bed-sitting room type accommodation but only very low levels of care. Assisted living in BC provides hospitality services and personal care services generally on a private pay basis but accommodation is always self-contained (i.e., kitchens and bathrooms as well as living areas). Supportive housing as it is known in Manitoba is probably the most similar model to Saskatchewan’s PCHs.
The majority of PCHs are what is often referred to as “mom and pops”, meaning the beds are located in single detached houses in residential neighbourhoods. However, there are much larger PCHs—for example Diamond House in Warman has 120 beds. Personal Care Homes are licensed under the terms of the Personal Care Homes Act and Regulations.
Nursing homes in BC currently cost about $1 million per bed just to build them. Will budget-stressed governments start to think about more modest approaches to the provision of care for seniors?