Paris retirement home closure underscores risks of privatized care for vulnerable residents, says Paris councillor

The old Penmarvian Home, known more recently as Grand River Estates is listed for sale for $5.9 million. It’s being called a ‘prime infill/redevelopment’ opportunity. 

Celeste Percy-Beauregard

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The closure of a subsidized retirement residence in Paris points to a flaw with public housing, says a Brant County councillor.

In August, Grand River Estates announced it would permanently shut the doors at 185 Grand River St. N. in Paris at the end of November, displacing up to 45 residents, many of whom need additional support.

The facility catered to older adults with “higher acuity needs due to developmental delays, mental health challenges, concurrent disorders, or other medical reasons,” according to a social service committee report.

This meant some residents needed around-the-clock supervision, medication management or help with life skills and community integration, the report said.

While it was privately run, 30 of the licensed beds were subsidized by a homeless provincial program (HPP) grant.

The social services committee — representing the City of Brantford and County of Brant — had been looking into reducing or eliminating this funding to Grand River Estates.

City staff say that didn’t cause its closure.

The plan was to continue subsidizing existing residents, but it may have been through a “smaller, client-based model” of funding, Maria Visocchi, the city’s communications director, said.

“The committee did not decide to stop subsidizing residents; rather, the operator chose to cease operations,” she said.

When asked for comment, Grand River Estates did not respond before deadline. When the initial notice was given to residents at the end of July, it read: “This has been an exceedingly difficult decision and is due to several factors that have severely impacted the financial feasibility of Grand River Estates.”

As of Oct. 1, all residents had found other housing, Katie Maas, acting director of housing and homelessness for Brantford, said in an email.

There are some comparable facilities in Brantford, like supported housing through the Canadian Mental Health Association and Participation House, and other privately-owned supportive living homes, Maas said.

But Paris Coun. Lukas Oakley said the closure shows the downside of governments entrusting subsidized housing to private corporations “rather than building and owning public housing itself.” 

He pointed to a study in the Region of Waterloo, which shows that affordable units are being lost faster than new ones can be built “due to agreements expiring (or) corporations choosing to end agreements like the one impacting Grand River Estates.

“It’s why I think it’s so important that the bulk of our efforts do go into projects like Trillium Way,” a new municipally-owned building with 49 affordable one- and two-bedroom units.

The $292,699 in HPP funding that would have gone to Grand River Estates has been redirected to the homeless response.

It will help fund a temporary warming centre at The Blessing Centre, six additional emergency shelter beds at Rosewood House, and additional staffing and security at SOAR Community Services for the winter, according to a committee report.

Dale Snider, whose 65-year-old sister Gwenda Coleman lived at the facility until the closure announcement said the home was an ideal fit following her brain aneurysm and ongoing seizure disorder.

In an interview with the Paris Independent in August, Snider said he believed the loss of provincial subsidies for low-income retirement home residents did contribute to the home’s financial struggles. The retirement home once offered government-assisted rates, but the program was cancelled for new residents, leaving many facilities unable to fill rooms. Without operating at capacity, homes like Grand River Estates will be forced to close.

“If subsidies were brought back, these beds would be filled,” he said. “It gives people dignity and keeps them from becoming homeless.”

As of a June 2025 housing needs assessment, 47 households in the county were on a wait-list for nonmarket housing. Another 295 households were in “severe core need” based on 2021 census data. At the time, there were an estimated 253 unhoused individuals between the city and county.

Celeste Percy-Beauregard’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Article updated with files from Paris Independent archive.