A residential and long-term care centre (Centre d’hébergement et de soins de longue durée—CHSLD) is a health and social service institution that, in accordance with pre-established admission criteria, receives elderly people who are experiencing a loss of physical or psychological autonomy.
CHSLDs provide lodging, meals, care and assistance, and 24-hour monitoring, as well as rehabilitation, pharmaceutical, and medical services.  They also provide a living environment suited to the needs of their clientele.  To do all the above, CHSLDs must prepare a program of preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative activities adapted to their clients’ needs. The Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec (MSSS) provides guidelines for CHSLDs in a document entitled Un milieu de vie de qualité (available in French).
Procedures to obtain a permit from the MSSS for the operation of a CHSLD take several months and require  compliance with standards in areas such as housing, equipment, and the provision of care. The following documents contain information on this subject:

• Guide d’information : Pré-requis à une demande de permis pour un CHSLD (available in French)
• Cadre de référence normatif CHSLD (available in French)
• Guide d’aménagement des CHSLD   (available in French)
• Guide technique de construction des services alimentaires pour CHSLD (available in French)

Future permit holders must also comply with all relevant regulations (the Act respecting health services and social services and its regulations, municipal by-laws, etc.).  Opening a CHSLD is thus an endeavour best suited to structured companies with sound financial potential.
To obtain more information or apply for a permit, please call the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal at 514-286‑6500, extension 5795.

For information concerning a CHSLD outside the Montreal area, contact the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux that serves the area where the CHSLD is located.