Minimum wage hike squeezes residential care facilities

Operators of local residential care facilities are calling on the city to provide emergency funding to help cover the hit they’ve taken due to the recent minimum wage hike.

These homes, which provide housing and support for people with physical and mental health issues, are at risk of closing if immediate support isn’t provided, warned Calvin Cain, Hamilton regional director for the Ontario Homes for Special Needs Association.

“Our vulnerable residents are at risk of losing their housing supports,” Cain, also an administrator at Sunrise Lodge on Park Street South, told the emergency and community services committee Monday.

Hamilton is home to approximately 52 operators and 1,200 licensed beds in these private care homes, according to a presentation by Cain and Sonia Brown, a local residential care facility operator.

The city has service agreements for 780 of those beds this year, the presentation said. Cain said the minimum wage increase — from $11.60 to $14 Jan. 1 — has meant a 25 to 30 per cent increase in labour costs for these facilities, which employ around 500 people, from personal support workers and health care aids to chefs. The hike has also meant a 20 to 25 per cent jump in food costs, and their maintenance costs are doubling.

“All small businesses are affected in this way, however we don’t have a way to pass on the costs,” he said.

In Hamilton, residential care facilities receive a per diem of $50 a day — an amount operators say hasn’t kept pace with rising costs.

Cain said he and local residential care facility operators want the city to provide a stopgap until they can see if measures to address the issue are included in the provincial budget, and to commit to annual funding hikes for residential care facilities in line with the consumer price index.

Coun. Sam Merulla said asking the city to make up the difference of money lost because of provincial legislation isn’t going to happen.

“With all due respect, we don’t have the money,” he said.

Vicki Woodcox, acting director of the city’s housing services division, said there has been an “incremental” increase to the local per diem over the last few years, moving it up to $50 from $47.75 per day.

She said she plans to conduct a review of residential care facilities over the next year, but to make a recommendation to one type of organization now will mean “everyone else coming forward with requests as well.”

After the meeting, Cain said he was disappointed with the lack of action taken by the city.

“We need immediate help.”