Long-Term Care in Kingston: Costs, Waiting Lists and Paying for It

ReverseMortgageKingston.ca gathers the official figures on long-term care in Kingston for families planning ahead for a parent or a spouse. Most families start with three questions: which homes are there, how long is the wait, and what does it cost each month.

The challenge is not usually the monthly co-payment. It is the wait, and paying for care at home until a bed opens.

The things to weigh are the waiting lists, the room type, the province’s help for low incomes, and what happens to the family home. This page covers each one, including how a move into care affects a reverse mortgage.

How many long-term care homes are in Kingston, and how long are the lists?

Six long-term care homes operate in the City of Kingston, with 1,097 beds in total. Their waiting lists held 2,527 places as of June 30, 2026, according to Ontario’s long-term care home finder. One person can be on several lists, so that total counts places, not people, and waits change often.

Fairmount is in Glenburnie, inside the City, and is operated by the County of Frontenac. Kingston homeowners help pay for it through a separate line on the tax bill, explained in Kingston property tax for seniors.

How do you apply for long-term care in Kingston?

You apply through Ontario Health atHome, South East, not to the homes directly. A care coordinator checks eligibility, using a health assessment form completed by a doctor or a registered nurse. You then choose the homes you’d like, and the agency manages the waiting lists.

The same agency arranges care at home in the meantime, such as personal support and nursing visits. You can also pay privately for extra help while you wait. Paying for home care in Kingston covers ways to fund that help.

What does long-term care cost in Kingston in 2026?

Long-term care in Kingston costs the same as anywhere in Ontario, because the province sets the maximum co-payment. From July 1, 2026, a basic room is $70.00 a day, or $2,129.17 a month (Ontario). The co-payment covers accommodation and meals, and every resident gets the same level of care.

The rates are the same at for-profit and not-for-profit homes. A home can charge extra for optional services, such as hairdressing, cable TV or transportation.

Help for low incomes, and your house isn’t counted

Ontario’s Long-Term Care Rate Reduction Program can lower the cost of a basic room. Ontario says a resident with income under $27,338 would likely qualify, with $149 a month kept as a comfort allowance for personal needs.

Ontario doesn’t count assets in that test. A house you own is not counted toward your income (Ontario). The reduction applies to basic rooms only, not semi-private or private.

What happens to a reverse mortgage if a Kingston homeowner moves into care?

That depends on who moves. When one spouse moves into care and the other borrower stays home, nothing changes. When the last borrower moves into care permanently, the reverse mortgage becomes due, and families commonly have up to a year to settle it. A temporary hospital or rehab stay doesn’t count as a permanent move.

When one spouse moves and the other stays

Both spouses are normally borrowers, so the spouse at home keeps living there with no repayment triggered. There are no required monthly mortgage payments, and the spouse at home still pays the property tax, home insurance and upkeep.

Because reverse mortgage money is borrowed, Ontario doesn’t treat it as income when it works out a reduced rate for a basic room. Interest that the money later earns in a bank account is a different matter: that is income. Some families use the money for the co-payment or for care at home while waiting.

When the last borrower moves into care

The mortgage becomes due, and the home is usually sold or the balance repaid from other money. Some lenders lower or waive the early repayment charge after a permanent move into long-term care. Which ones do, and by how much, is part of what Richard compares for you.

Even then, you can never owe more than your Kingston home is worth when the mortgage comes due, as long as property taxes, insurance and upkeep are kept up. This promise, typically called the no negative equity guarantee, comes with all four lenders. Recent prices are in Kingston home prices in 2026, and selling costs are in the cost of downsizing in Kingston.

Retirement homes are a different cost

A retirement home is private housing with services, not provincially funded long-term care, and each residence sets its own prices. The last official figures for the Kingston area come from CMHC’s 2021 Seniors’ Housing Survey for the Frontenac centre (CMHC).

In 2021, average rent for a standard space was $4,572 a month, and 15.3% of standard spaces were empty. The survey covered 10 residences with 899 spaces.

CMHC has stopped collecting these figures, so they are dated and today’s rents differ. Ask each residence for its current price list on paper, including the cost of extra care.

For families weighing care costs, Richard Hopkins, Mortgage Broker, compares every reverse mortgage lender in Canada. Every lender is compared, and the best deal for your home and goals comes by email, so the whole family can read it. You get a recommendation based on your situation, even if it’s not a reverse mortgage. The printable reverse mortgage checklist helps families gather questions first, and what a reverse mortgage costs in Kingston shows the interest over time.

What it comes down to

To see the figures for your own house, get a free Kingston estimate. It costs nothing, and there's no sales pressure.