Canadian healthcare is publicly funded. That fact, universally true and deeply held contains a dangerous assumption for retirement planners: the assumption that "publicly funded" means "fully covered." It doesn't. And nowhere is the gap between that assumption and reality more costly than in long-term care. Canada's public health system does not cover long-term residential care in the way it covers hospital stays and physician visits. What it covers is nursing care within publicly subsidized facilities. What it does not cover is accommodation and accommodation in a long-term care facility is where the bills become catastrophic.
A government-subsidized long-term care bed in Canada requires co-payments ranging from $879/month in some northern territories to $3,575/month in British Columbia. But government-subsidized beds often have wait times exceeding 142 days provincially in Ontario - and some families wait years. Private long-term care facilities, which offer faster access and higher quality of amenity, charge between $6,000 and $15,000 per month depending on the province and level of care. In-home care, the preferred option for most Canadians, runs $10–$200/hour for private nursing and personal care services. A Canadian who requires full-time private home care for 3 years before transitioning to a private facility for another 2 years could easily face $300,000–$400,000 in out-of-pocket long-term care costs during a period when their portfolio would otherwise be growing.
The conversation most Canadian families are not having, until a health crisis forces it, is the conversation about what happens when mom or dad can no longer live independently. Having that conversation at 60, when options are numerous and costs are manageable, is categorically different from having it at 80, when health events have already eliminated the best options. Long-term care planning is not morbid. It is, quite literally, one of the highest-return financial conversations a Canadian family can have.