April 22, 2026
KJIPUKTUK/HALIFAX— A new analysis of long-term care (LTC) workers’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic finds that many of the conditions that drove stress, burnout, and safety risks in 2020 remain unresolved today, which raises urgent questions as LTC workers across the province take job action.
Drawing on previously unpublished data from a 2020 survey of frontline LTC workers in Nova Scotia, researchers from Acadia University show that pandemic-related pressures were not the root cause of the crisis in long-term care, but rather intensified longstanding problems such as chronic understaffing, low wages, and precarious employment.
“Our findings were clear even in the early months of the pandemics,” said co-author Dr. Rebecca Casey, Sociology professor at Acadia University. “Workers were telling us that the system was already strained and that without meaningful change, both staff and residents would continue to face serious risks.”
The article situates these working conditions within decades of policy decisions that expanded privatization, limited staffing levels, and deprioritized investment in the long-term care workforce, affecting both the quality of work and quality of care.
Among the key findings:
- Workers reported significant increases in stress, overwork, and feeling unsupported during and before the pandemic
- Staffing shortages were widespread and predated COVID-19
- Participants expressed skepticism that public attention during the pandemic would lead to lasting improvements
“The current labour dispute should not be seen as an isolated event,” said co-author Dr. Rachel Brickner, Politics professor at Acadia University. “It is the predictable result of years of underinvestment, policy choices, and discrimination against a woman-dominated labour force that have undervalued the skilled labour required by the full team of care providers.”
As CCPA-NS Director Dr. Christine Saulnier says of the report, “With Nova Scotia’s population aging rapidly, waitlists for long-term care will continue to grow despite the government’s promises to expand the sector. There are no additional long-term care beds without the full complement of staff needed to support the residents.”
Saulnier continues, “It took public outcry to reverse the planned three per cent funding cuts this year, but what about the next three years of planned cuts? It is imperative that the Nova Scotia government treat long-term care as essential social and economic infrastructure requiring sustained investment and public accountability.”
Read the full report Long-Term Care in Nova Scotia: Pandemic Lessons and Persistent Failure here, and the accompanying backgrounder here.
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For more information, or to arrange interviews, please contact Ruby Harrington at [email protected].
The CCPA-NS is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice, as well as environmental sustainability.
