Digital Front DeskOntario long-term care visitor policy checklist
A checklist for reviewing a home's written visitor policy against O. Reg. 246/22 s.267(1).
Not legal advice. Last checked 7 October 2026 against O. Reg. 246/22 s.267(1).
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A checklist for reviewing a home's written visitor policy against O. Reg. 246/22 s.267(1).
A checklist for reviewing a home's written visitor policy against O. Reg. 246/22 s.267(1).
Not legal advice. Last checked 7 October 2026 against O. Reg. 246/22 s.267(1).
Use it when you write or review your home's visitor policy. Each item quotes the clause of O. Reg. 246/22 s.267 it comes from, with a short note in plain language. Tick an item when you can point to the paragraph of your policy that addresses it.
The section opens: “Every licensee of a long-term care home shall establish and implement a written visitor policy which at a minimum,” and then lists the items below. Read s.267 on Ontario e-Laws.
s.267(1)(a) “includes the process for visitor access during non-outbreak situations and during an outbreak of a communicable disease, an outbreak of a disease of public health significance, an epidemic, a pandemic or another emergency;”
Two sets of procedures: ordinary days and outbreaks or emergencies. Check that both are written down, not only the outbreak one.
Where in our policy: ______________________
s.267(1)(b)(i) “includes the process for documenting and keeping a written record of, (i) the designation of a caregiver; and”
How a caregiver is designated, who records it, and where the record is kept.
Where in our policy: ______________________
s.267(1)(b)(ii) “the approval from a parent or legal guardian to permit persons under 16 years of age to be designated as a caregiver, if applicable;”
If someone under 16 can be a caregiver, the policy needs a way to record the parent or guardian approval.
Where in our policy: ______________________
s.267(1)(c) “complies with all applicable laws including any applicable directives, orders, guidance, advice or recommendations issued by the Chief Medical Officer of Health or a medical officer of health appointed under the Health Protection and Promotion Act; and”
Check the policy against current public health directives, and note who updates it when they change.
Where in our policy: ______________________
s.267(1)(d) “ensures that essential visitors continue to have access to the long-term care home during an outbreak of a communicable disease, an outbreak of a disease of public health significance, an epidemic, a pandemic or another emergency, subject to any applicable laws.”
Essential visitors are the four kinds s.267(4) defines, quoted in full below the checklist. Check the outbreak procedures keep each of them coming in, as the definition words it.
Where in our policy: ______________________
s.267(3) “Every licensee of a long-term care home shall ensure that the current version of the visitor policy is provided to the Residents’ Council and Family Council, if any.”
Record when the current version went to each council, and send it again after every change.
Where in our policy: ______________________
Item s.267(1)(d) depends on this definition, so here it is word for word:
“essential visitor” means,
(a) a caregiver,
(b) a support worker who visits a home to provide support to the critical operations of the home or to provide essential services to residents,
(c) a person visiting a very ill resident for compassionate reasons including, but not limited to, hospice services or end-of-life care, or
(d) a government inspector with a statutory right to enter a long-term care home to carry out their duties.O. Reg. 246/22, s. 267 (4). Read it on Ontario e-Laws.
The visitor log is a separate duty under s.267(2), not part of the written policy: see the Ontario long-term care visitor log. Section 267 does not set a schedule for reviewing the policy.
Three other sections of O. Reg. 246/22 name the policy. The information posted in the home and communicated to residents includes “The current version of the visitor policy made under section 267.” (s.265(1), paragraph 10), and the package of information for residents includes it too (s.264(2), paragraph 9).
The third puts it on the home's public website. Section 271(1) says “Every licensee of a long-term care home shall ensure that they have a website that is open to the public and includes at a minimum,” and its list includes “(g) the current version of the visitor policy made under section 267;”. That is subject to s.271(2): “A licensee is not required to have a website that is open to the public where the home is in a location in the province that does not have consistent and reliable internet service.”
So each new version has to be posted in the home, go into the information package and, unless s.271(2) applies, go on the home's website, as well as to the councils.