TORONTO - Three of Ontario's four major political parties are promising to end for-profit long-term care in the province, though they offer differing plans for how to accomplish what would be a huge undertaking.

The NDP, Liberals and Greens say the COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on long-term care, and they say it showed that private corporations should not be in the business of elder care.

Some research has suggested that for-profit homes saw a higher proportion of COVID-19 deaths than non-profit facilities.

The NDP propose to ensure all new long-term care projects are not-for-profit or municipally run, and say they would set aside capital funds to help municipalities and not-for-profit homes acquire for-profit homes.

The Liberals say they would stop renewing for-profit licences and negotiate and finance the transfer of existing homes to not-for-profit entities and municipalities.

The Greens would increase base funding for long-term care by 10 per cent to begin the shift to non-profit elder care.

The Progressive Conservatives, who are seeking re-election, have rejected calls to phase long-term care operators out of the system and are instead focusing on increasing capacity, saying they are on track to exceed their 2018 promise to build 30,000 net new beds by 2028.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2022.