Services in Ontario - Elder Abuse

The Government of Ontario has a Long-term Home Care ACTION Line. It is toll-free at 1-866-434-0144

Hours of operation: 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m., 7 days a week

The Seniors Safety Line is a 24/7, confidential and free resource that provides information, referrals and support in over 150 languages for seniors experiencing abuse.

Call 1-866-299-1011 for support.

If you are in danger right now, call 911 or your local police.

Elder Abuse Prevention Ontario has compiled a searchable database intended to assist seniors, families, caregivers and service providers in navigating the system of available supports, programs and services in Ontario, to assist older adults who have experienced or are at-risk of abuse.

Legal Aid Ontario funds the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE). It is a community legal clinic that gives services to seniors with low incomes in the areas of:

• Health care consent and advance care planning
• Consumer protection
• Elder abuse
• Health care
• Home care
• Long-term care homes
• Pensions and income
• Retirement homes

ACE does not help with wills or powers of attorney, or give legal advice on estate administration, real estate, criminal law, or family law matters.

During the COVID-19 situation, many community legal clinics are no longer meeting with people in person, but will provide services over the phone. Call ahead for more information.

Legal Aid Ontario funds legal clinics across Ontario. There are two types of legal clinics: community legal clinics and specialty legal clinics.

Community legal clinics provide free legal services to people with low incomes who live in their area. Most help with:

• Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program
• tenants’ rights
• the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement
• some employment issues

Some clinics can help with immigration and refugee problems.

Search for the clinic in your area using your postal code.

Some specialty legal clinics provide free legal services to specific groups of people with low incomes:

• Advocacy Centre for the Elderly
• Aboriginal Legal Services
• ARCH Disability Law Centre
• Black Legal Action Centre
• Centre Francophone du Grand Toronto
• Chinese and South Asian Legal Clinic
• Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples
• HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario
• Justice for Children and Youth
• South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario

Some specialty legal clinics provide free legal services in only certain areas of law:

• Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario
• Canadian Environmental Law Association
• Income Security Advocacy Centre
• Industrial Accident Victims Group of Ontario
• Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic
• Workers Health and Safety Legal Clinic

The helpline is a 24-hour telephone and TTY crisis line for women who have experienced abuse. It helps women in over 200 languages, and offers counselling, support, information, and referrals to legal and community services.

You can call them or text #SAFE (#7233) on a Bell, Rogers, Fido, or Telus mobile phone.

The Ministry for Seniors and Accessibility provides information on their website related to helplines and resources on elder abuse

Established in 2011, the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority is an independent, self-funded, not-for-profit regulator mandated by the government to protect and ensure the safety and well-being of seniors living in Ontario’s retirement homes under the Retirement Homes Act, 2010.

The Seniors Centre helps older adults or their families/friends in the GTA with financial, psychological, physical or neglect situations. Staff help you work through your situation and to come up with options on what you can do. There is no income test. Services are available in-person every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. or call 416-651-8300 and leave a message for the coordinator. Services are provided under the guidance of the Prevention of Elder Abuse Coalition of Etobicoke and York (PEACE).