4 dead seniors in 1 month raise alarms about future of long-term care in Quebec

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After four Quebec seniors were found dead outside their homes, advocates warn the province is heading toward a major crisis as its population ages and resources for care are strained.

They say a lack of substantial funding in Residential and Long-Term Care Centres (CHSLD), Private Seniors’ Residences (RPAs), and at-home care is at the heart of the problem.

With 21.7 per cent of Quebec’s population now over 65 — a figure expected to steadily rise in the coming decades — critics say more preventable deaths could occur.

All four deaths reported took place over a one-month span.

Four deaths in four weeks

On Dec. 8, the body of 88-year-old Jeanne Demers Gohier was found outside Villagia de l’Île Paton, an RPA in Laval.

Subsequently, her grandson Marc-Olivier Naud told the media that it was not the first time she left the residence unsupervised, adding he couldn’t believe it happened again given the high cost of care.

He also said his grandmother struggled to walk for years and had long-term cognitive difficulties.

Then, on Dec. 11, an 84-year-old woman was discovered by a snowplow driver on a street in Longueuil.

Authorities later referred to the woman as a “vulnerable person” and noted she had been living under the care of her family. It is still unknown how she got outside.

The next day, a 78-year-old man who had been living autonomously in a low-income rental housing complex primarily occupied by seniors in Rosemère was found outside and later pronounced dead. Police said a medical issue could have been at play.

The final death, on New Year’s Day, occurred in the municipality of Lac-au-Saumon, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, about 650 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

A 90-year-old woman identified by CTV News as Cécile St-Amand Cormier was found in critical condition near her RPA, Domaine du Lac-au-Saumon, and was rushed to hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

In her obituary, her family encouraged donations to the local Alzheimer’s society.

Very few details are known about each death and coroner investigations are underway.

“It’s a disaster in the making. We’re already in it. Things are already going very badly,” said Hans Brouillette, director of government and public affairs at the Regroupement québécois des résidences pour aînés (RQRA), which represents and supports RPAs.

The future doesn’t look any better, according to Brouillette, who pointed to budgets and inadequate planning from the government.

Lack of proper evaluations, follow-ups

Brouillette underscored various issues facing RPAs, including how seniors’ decline with age renders their living arrangements unsafe — with few options available for better care.

No two seniors are the same, he said.

“There is no precise age, and that’s the difficulty. We can’t achieve absolute safety, that’s clear,” said Brouillette.

He explained that when seniors arrive at an RPA, they are often autonomous and free to make their own decisions. They are also sometimes placed in or stay in the wrong care category because of the shortage of space in higher-care homes.

Compounding the problem: cognitive decline can go unnoticed by staff, leading to dangerous, even lethal, situations.

“You can’t just arbitrarily label someone as an inherent risk and then control them in an RPA. A manager or employee in an RPA does not have that right. They are not doctors and they are not a public authority,” Brouillette noted.

Paul Brunet, the chair of the Council for the Protection of Patients, said he believes that cognitive decline might have played a role in all four deaths. However, he stressed that seniors staying in RPAs must have their agency respected.

“I have complaints of people who are totally capable and feel they are in prison because they want to get out and come in when they want,” Brunet said in an interview. “So that is the grey zone with certain problems.”

The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) added that some residents in RPAs live with a spouse, for example, and can’t be forcefully relocated. It also said the categorization of RPAs “is based on the services offered by the residence, not the autonomy level of residents.”

“People living in an RPA are considered to be living at home. They hold a lease, benefit from the right to remain in their home and retain their civil rights, including the right to consent — or refuse — a change in living environment," it told CTV News in an email.

But, Brouillette said regional health boards (CIUSSS) sometimes skip necessary evaluations.

“In some cases, there is simply no place, whether for budget reasons or physical capacity — a lack of space. How do you deny a place to someone who clearly needs one? You don’t evaluate them,” he said.

In a statement, Santé Québec said the “quality of care and services provided, as well as the health and safety of users living in residential facilities, is a constant priority.”

“Operators have obligations to fulfill, and facilities are responsible for ensuring that these guidelines are followed,” it added.

The MSSS said there are strict protocols for follow-ups and receiving a notice “does not automatically mean the person will be relocated.”

RPAs closing despite high need

The RQRA’s 2026-2027 pre-budget showed that there are 41 per cent fewer RPAs in the province since 2008.

Nearly 700 establishments have closed since 2018. Quebec’s 75-and-over population — when loss of autonomy typically becomes more pronounced — will increase by more than 350,000 people over the next decade, according to the report.

The government said it has been preparing for several years.

It pointed to the Primary Care Access Point (GAP), enhancements to the 811 phone line, Info-Santé, and investments in renovating and building CHSLDs and RPAs.

It also made investments to allow people to age at home as long as possible.

In January 2024, the government allocated $200 million over five years to curb RPA closures, noting that more than 500 had already closed in the preceding five years.

In March 2024, 79-year-old Réjeanne Jean was found dead on her balcony at Résidence Saint-Antoine, a private seniors’ residence (RPA) located in Lévis, Que.

According to a recently released coroner’s report, Jean was living in the RPA’s Intermediate Resources (RI) section under an agreement with the Chaudière-Appalaches health board (CISSS-CA), which covered part of her housing and care costs, while she paid a contribution based on her income.

The coroner, Jean-François Bertrand, concluded that Jean died of hypothermia and that her death could have been prevented had the RPA’s cameras been monitored and if the door leading to the balcony had been equipped with a device to alert staff immediately when it was opened.

The report also noted that she suffered from “major neurocognitive disorders,” adding that those users “are found in both RPAs and RIs and, as such, must be able to benefit from the same services and safety standards that protect human life.”

Changes triggered after Bloc MP’s mother’s death?

On Jan. 20, 2019, Hélène Rowley Hotte, 93, mother of former Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, froze to death outside her RPA, Residence Lux Gouverneur, in Montreal’s Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough.

Rowley Hotte, who had a hearing impairment, reportedly went outside after an alarm went off and was locked out.

She got stuck outside and died of hypothermia. Like other similar deaths, the coroner established that it was preventable. According to Rowley Hotte’s family, she did not have any cognitive impairment.

The coroner laid out a series of recommendations to the RPA, including installing intercoms outside emergency doors and designating a person responsible for monitoring security cameras, to avoid this from happening again.

The MSSS said that in 2022, the government amended legislation to ensure all staff receive fire safety and resident protection training.

As part of the training, staff members must verify the safety of each resident to make sure they are all accounted for after any alarm.

But Micheline Germain, president of AREQ, an association representing CSQ retirees, said the changes don’t go far enough to keep seniors safe. Other coroner recommendations were not necessarily implemented across all RPAs, she said.

“If there are coroner recommendations, they have to be taken into account. What’s sad about this file is that they were not,” she said. “There must be a permanent framework in place.”

She emphasized that there is not enough continuity from one government to the next, and institutions often work in silos.

The MSSS said it has recurring funding for CHSLDs embedded in a structured budget framework, direct support for seniors through the tax credit for home-support services and programs such as the personalized allowance in RPAs, which it stressed are private businesses.

Investments in at-home care also lacking

In the absence of follow-up assessments and with gaps in safety protocols, Germain said Quebec’s funding priorities are part of the problem.

About 80 per cent of public funds are directed to residential and long-term care centres, while only 15 per cent go to home support, she said, despite evidence that helping seniors stay home longer would cost much less.

More families are choosing intergenerational living or bringing parents closer for direct care, she added.

“We invest heavily in institutional housing — CHSLDs — but not enough in home-care services,” Germain said.

“Helping people stay home longer would cost much less, but we need to invest properly. There are some great measures that have been implemented in many places that don’t cost much, but they require investment. That’s not what’s happening.”

Brunet also said he supports keeping seniors at home for as long as possible.

Although there are risks, he noted that with proper nurse follow-ups and adequate services from public clinics (CLSCs), it will not only improve public medical services and continuum of care, but also the quality of life for seniors.

“But we don’t follow that. We don’t maintain people at home, making sure that they’re well. If we did that, we have proven figures that elders would be less sick because they will be followed better, less need for hospitalization and less need for a bed,” he said.

Brouillette argued that keeping more seniors at home is not a financially viable option.

“But honestly, is it realistic? In an aging society like Quebec, to have one worker devoting part of their day to one person, including travel time? It costs more than $100 per hour,” he said.

He added that it’s more efficient to group resources and services like RPAs do, otherwise it gets too expensive.

“The average person cannot afford thousands of dollars in travel and time for home support services. And if individuals cannot pay, the state won’t be able to either — because the state is us, the taxpayers," he said.

New government investments in at-home care

In January 2026, Quebec launched a new home health-care policy that will compensate eligible family caregivers, formally recognizing them as service providers.

Health Minister Sonia Bélanger said the government is investing more than $107 million in the program and noted that nearly 400,000 Quebecers already receive health-care support at home — a figure she said has risen significantly in recent years.

However, some say the changes are long overdue, and advocates say many details remain unclear.