“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me, in prison and you came to visit me.”
(Matthew 25: 35 – 36)
By 2028, the City of Mississauga will welcome a new home for seniors hosting 128 beds.
Guided by our unwavering commitment to do good and to serve the communities around us, the Church of the Virgin Mary & St. Athanasius (“VMSA”) has commenced a process in partnership with the Ontario Government to use the land behind one of our churches in order to address the province’s urgent long-term care issues.
There are many people in the Region of Peel who are in need of care as they age, and so, we are providing it to them!
What is the VMSA Long-Term Care Centre?
The VMSA Long-Term Care Centre will be a new and modern long-term care home with 128 beds and culturally appropriate services for the community in Peel Region. This facility will be part of a large campus of care, ensuring full integration into the broader health system so that residents have access to the care they need.
Where will it be built?
The VMSA Long-Term Care Centre will be constructed on the rear of our property at 1699 Dundas Street East, Mississauga, ON. We will have all of the necessary infrastructure in place to ensure ease of transportation along with resident and neighbour safety.
Who’s behind the project?
The Church of the Virgin Mary & St. Athanasius and all of its constituents have wholeheartedly committed to the planning and approval procedures for this large project. It has been a dream of the Church for over thirty (30) years. More recently over the last five years, we have gone through a rigorous application process in order to better serve our valued residents of Mississauga.
Now approved by the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, this project is part of the government’s $6.4 billion commitment to build more than 30,000 net new beds and 28,000 upgraded long-term beds throughout the province by 2028.
Why is VMSA doing this?
Long-term care is in a state of crisis in the Province of Ontario. Wait times for seniors to move into long-term care homes have been trending upward since 2014 and as of 2020-2021 the median number of wait days was 213 from the community and 80 from hospital. At their core, our long-term care issues are a problem of supply and demand. Ontario currently houses 198,220 long-term beds but the province’s 65+ population totals over 6.8 million.
We feel very strongly about our role within the community over all these years, and with the development of our new long-term care facility, this role takes on a new heightened form. As the Gospel of St. Matthew the Evangelist states, when our people are in need, we are there to help. It is this Scripture that has guided us through decades of community service and we look forward to decades more.
What is the proposed timeline?
- Rezoning process is currently in progress and is subject to approval by Spring 2024
- Construction is expected to begin by Fall Summer 2025.
- Final completion is projected to be 2028.