The following Resident Rights are set out in the Ontario Nursing Homes Act. Every licensee shall ensure that the following rights of residents are fully respected and promoted:

1. Every resident has the right to be treated with courtesy and respect and in a way that fully recognizes the resident’s dignity and individuality and to be free from mental and physical abuse.

2. Every resident has the right to be properly sheltered, fed, clothed, groomed and cared for in a manner consistent with his or her needs.

3. Every resident has the right to be told who is responsible for and who is providing the resident’s direct care.

4. Every resident has the right to be afforded privacy in treatment and in caring for his or her personal needs.

5. Every resident has the right to keep in his or her room and display personal possessions, pictures and furnishings in keeping with safety requirements and other resident’s rights.

6. Every resident has the right;

i) to be informed of his or her medical condition, treatment and proposed course of treatment;

ii) to give or refuse consent to treatment, including medication, in accordance with the law and to be informed of the consequences of giving or refusing consent;

iii) to have the opportunity to participate fully in making any decision and obtaining an independent medical opinion concerning any aspect of his or her care, including any decision concerning his or her admission, discharge or transfer to or from a nursing home; and

iv) to have his or her medical records kept confidential in accordance with the law.

7. Every resident has the right to receive reactivation and assistance towards independence consistent with his or her requirements.

8. Every resident who is being considered for restraints has the right to be fully informed about the procedures and the consequences of receiving or refusing them.

9. Every resident has the right to communicate in confidence, to receive visitors of his or her choice and to consult in private with any person without interference.

10. Every resident whose death is likely to be imminent has the right to have members of the resident’s family present twenty-four hours per day.

11. Every resident has the right to designate a person to receive information concerning any transfer or emergency hospitalization of the resident and where a person is so designated to have that person so informed forthwith.

12. Every resident has the right to exercise the rights of a citizen and to raise concerns or recommend changes in policies and services on behalf of himself or herself or others to the residents’ council, nursing home staff, government officials or any other person inside or outside
the nursing home, without fear of restraint, interference, coercion, discrimination or reprisal.

13. Every resident has the right to form friendships, to enjoy relationships and to participate in the
residents’ council.

14. Every resident has the right to meet privately with his or her spouse in a room that assures privacy and where both spouses are residents in the same nursing home, they have a right to share a room according to their wishes, if an appropriate room is available.

15. Every resident has a right to pursue social, cultural, religious and other interests, to develop his or her potential and to be given reasonable provisions by the nursing home to accommodate these pursuits.

16. Every resident has the right to be informed in writing of any law, rule or policy affecting the operation of the nursing home and of the procedures for initiating complaints.

17. Every resident has the right to manage his or her own financial affairs where the resident is able to do so, and where the resident’s financial affairs are managed by the nursing home, to receive a quarterly accounting of any transactions undertaken on his or her behalf and to be assured that the resident’s property is managed solely on the resident’s behalf.

18. Every resident has the right to live in a safe and clean environment.

19. Every resident has the right to be given access to protected areas outside the nursing home in order to enjoy outdoor activity, unless the physical setting makes this impossible.