{"id":36747,"date":"2025-08-28T18:09:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T22:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=36747"},"modified":"2025-09-04T17:00:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T21:00:14","slug":"new-long-term-care-home-will-be-cornerstone-of-new-francophone-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/new-long-term-care-home-will-be-cornerstone-of-new-francophone-community\/","title":{"rendered":"New long-term care home will be cornerstone of new Francophone community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A new 160-bed long-term care residence set for construction on Bloomington Road will be the nucleus of a new Francophone community in Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The facility, which could begin construction as early as the end of this fall, will be operated by Communaut\u00e9 du Trille blanc (CTB), and serve as a central hub for a multi-purpose community serving French-speaking seniors, and will eventually include multiple housing types, a community centre, and five acres of recreation space which will be operated by the Town of Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future of the long-term care hub was made official by the Provincial government on Thursday morning, where Cabinet ministers celebrated the transfer of land alongside Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy, Mayor Tom Mrakas, members of Council, and leaders of the CTB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future of the land in question, 50 Bloomington Road, near Cardinal Carter Catholic High School and the York Catholic District School Board offices, has been the subject of talks on its future use since 2018. There was interest by the Town of Aurora at one point to secure the lands for recreational purposes, but the land was ultimately earmarked for long-term care use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a momentous day for the Francophone community, not only in the GTA, but across the Province,\u201d said Natalia Kusendova-Bashta, Minister of Long-Term Care. \u201cToday, I am so proud to announce the sale of this government surplus land that will be turned into a brand-new long-term care home. This site will be transformed into a new planned community anchored by a 160-bed, fully air-conditioned long-term care home operated [by the CTB]. A new, modern 160-bed long-term care home, five acres of recreational land on the western parcel, which will increase the level of resident activity while, at the same time, help reduce social isolation, a French village, a campus of care that includes different types of housing, and a French-language hub \u2013 a continuum of health and community services for residents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kusendova-Bashta said she has been working on the file since her time as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Francophone Affairs, Caroline Mulroney, and being on site Thursday afternoon, she said, was \u201clike a dream come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was been a journey where we have had so many conversations and we dreamed big when we dreamed of this Francophone village, which will respond to the needs of Francophone seniors not only in Aurora but within the GTA. Today, we can say we achieved our dream and we\u2019re starting on a journey of getting this project done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Mulroney, in turn, said the project is part of a \u201cbroader vision to expand high-quality French-language service delivery in every corner of the Province.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether in healthcare, education, or training, our goal is clear: to ensure that Ontario\u2019s Francophonie can access the French-language services that support their growth and their well-being at every stage of life,\u201d she said. \u201cI would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the tremendous collaboration between the Ministry of Long-Term Care, Infrastructure Ontario, and [the CTB] or driving this project forward. People have been talking about it for almost a decade and, at the Ministry of Francophone affairs, we\u2019ve been trying to move it forward for almost as long. It\u2019s such a pleasure to be here at the start of this incredible journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma said Province\u2019s approach of looking at surplus lands as opportunities for \u201cgreater public purpose\u201d was reflected in Thursday\u2019s announcement and she hailed it as \u201ca wonderful mixed-use site not only [for] long-term care, but it will also senior residences, which I think is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen we will work hard with the municipality on recreational space that will be made available,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was of particular importance to Mayor Tom Mrakas who said the five acres will be available to all residents to enjoy \u2013 and how they are ultimately enjoyed will be subject to a consultation process \u201cin the coming months\u201d to ensure it best serves the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, in the end, he said the project as a whole \u201cis helping strengthen the entire Town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday marks a very special moment as we celebrate the biggest milestone yet in CTB\u2019s vision of building a Francophone community for seniors in York Region, and right here in Aurora, and I couldn\u2019t be prouder,\u201d he said. \u201cCTB has worked tirelessly to reach this point through fundraising, persistent advocacy, and close collaboration with all levels of government\u2026 Together, this support reflects a deep understanding of how important it is to provide older adults with culturally-appropriate, language-specific care. It\u2019s an acknowledgement that this kind of care helps people feel truly supported, fosters a sense of community and belonging, and improves both physical and mental well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all know as our population continues to age, not just in Aurora and York Region, but across Canada, governments, businesses, and community organizations need to work together to find innovative ways to support our diverse and aging population, just as we’re doing here in Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wrapping up the announcement was Jean Bouchard, Chair of the CTB Board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bouchard recalled the first sparks of this \u201cdream\u201d lighting up around a kitchen table in Aurora where like-minded businesspeople came together to \u201cdream in order to offer a better environment for our Francophones and Francophile elders in York Region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s seven years now and it\u2019s just the beginning,\u201d he said, paying tribute to Steve and Carole Mirkopoulos, who donated $10 million to make this project a reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This donation, he said, was \u201cpivotal\u201d to its advancement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is with great gratitude and also a deep admiration that I thank you deeply, Steve and Carole,\u201d said Bouchard. \u201cThe book that the [CTB] has been writing for almost seven years is the beginning of a new chapter. We know it will be filled with challenges and pitfalls, but our foundation is solid and full of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

160-bed residence is just the beginning on south Aurora site<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-28-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9yH","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-18 06:44:26","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36749,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36747\/revisions\/36749"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}