The University of Toronto’s (U of T’s) centre for design and health innovation has published ‘Reimagining Long-Term Care Architecture in Post-Pandemic Ontario—and Beyond,’ a comprehensive study co-sponsored by consulting engineering firm Jacobs Canada and the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA).

As the title suggests, the new report explores how the built environment could better support long-term care (LTC) communities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a disproportionate impact on people living and working in LTC facilities, exposing many structural vulnerabilities. The study’s author, Stephen Verderber of U of T’s John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, emphasizes the urgency to re-examine Ontario’s approach to refurbishing existing homes and building new ones.