March 12, 2026 — Provincial Geriatrics Leadership Ontario (PGLO) will launch the new cycle of data collection for the Provincial Specialized and Focused Geriatric Services Asset Inventory (Provincial Asset Inventory – PAI) next month. In preparation, PGLO has released new data insights showing a significant and accelerating rise in the number of older adults living with frailty, dementia, and complex mental health conditions across the province, underscoring urgent needs for expanded clinical capacity, improved access to community-based services, and strengthened support for caregivers.
The findings come from the previous cycle of the PAI, Ontario’s only province-wide data initiative dedicated exclusively to specialized geriatric and seniors’ mental health clinical services, key providers of clinical dementia, frailty and seniors’ mental health services. The report incorporates 2023–2024 submissions, new provincial frailty estimates and data from other sources, bringing together data from 138 organizations and 392 programs across Ontario Health regions.
Key Findings
Growing Demand for Specialized Care
- An estimated 723,769 Ontarians 65+ are living with frailty (2024), representing 25% of the older adult population.
- An additional 334,500 older adults are living with dementia.
- At least 27,000 seniors are living with serious mental illness, with clinicians and long-term care homes reporting increasing needs.
High Use of Emergency and Acute Care
- 46.2% of hospitalized adults 65+ fall into the highest frailty risk categories, highlighting a need for frailty-focused screening and care models in emergency departments and acute settings.
- Repeat emergency visits, falls‑related hospitalizations, and readmissions remain high across regions.
Rising Caregiver Distress
- Caregiver distress for those supporting older adults living with frailty continues to rise, even as respite bed availability declines in many regions.
Significant Wait Times Across the Province
- 77.6% of programs reporting wait times indicate waits of seven days or longer, signalling critical gaps in clinical capacity.
- Some community programs—such as falls prevention services—report wait times of up to a year, despite rising falls rates among older adults.
Equity Concerns
- Access challenges persist in rural and remote communities, particularly in the North.
- A high proportion of people living with dementia fall into lower income quintiles, impacting their ability to pay for essential supports such as adult day programs and supplementary home care.
A Call to Strengthen Community Geriatrics and Primary Care Capacity
The report emphasizes the need for strategic investments in primary care and community-based geriatric services to prevent avoidable hospitalizations, reduce emergency department pressures, and support aging in place.
“The findings show clearly that the needs of older adults living with frailty, dementia, and mental health conditions are growing faster than the capacity of existing services,” said Kelly Kay, Executive Director, of PGLO. “Strengthening primary care, expanding community geriatric programs, and supporting caregivers must be system priorities if we want to enable healthy aging and reduce pressure on hospitals.”
The report highlights emerging solutions, including integrated geriatric care models, enhanced primary care team geriatrics training, and opportunities to scale proven clinical approaches across regions. Find the full data insights report here.
Modernized Provincial Asset Inventory Data Collection Launches in 2026
To support ongoing capacity planning, the updated PAI data collection cycle will launch in April 2026, with improvements designed to enhance data quality, usability, and provincial planning. New features include updated indicators, enhanced Microsoft Forms integration, single sign-on, and will expand to include visualization options through Power BI. Learn more about the PAI and how to contribute program data here.
About Provincial Geriatrics Leadership Ontario
PGLO provides provincial leadership to strengthen the quality, consistency, and accessibility of specialized dementia, frailty, and seniors’ mental health clinical services across Ontario. Working with regional programs, primary care, and system partners, PGLO advances integrated models of care, data-driven decision-making, innovation, and workforce development.