• 3. (1) Where an assistance agreement is in force, the Minister may enter into an agreement with the province to provide for the payment by Canada to the province of a contribution, calculated in accordance with these Regulations, in respect of the cost to the province and to municipalities in the province of benefits paid under a universal nursing home care benefit program of the province.

• (2) A universal nursing home care benefit program means a program, established pursuant to provincial law, that

  • (a) provides for, and is administered and operated so as to provide for, the payment by the province of benefits in respect of the cost of care provided in nursing homes in the province that are included in the program; and

  • (b) is administered and operated on the basis that the benefits referred to in paragraph (a) are available on uniform terms and conditions

    • (i) to every resident of a nursing home or part thereof that is included in the program,

    • (ii) to every such resident who is receiving a level of care specified by the province for the purposes of the program, or

    • (iii) to every such resident who is within an age group specified by the province for the purposes of the program,

    without the requirement of a test of the financial circumstances of any person to determine whether or not that person is entitled to receive such benefits.

• (3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), a universal nursing home care benefit program described in that subsection includes a program that is administered and operated under terms and conditions that require

  • (a) all persons who receive the care referred to in paragraph (2)(a) to pay the same fixed amount representing a portion of the cost of such care;

  • (b) a period of residence in the province as a condition of eligibility for the benefits referred to in paragraph (2)(a);

  • (c) the payment of a premium in respect of the program; or

  • (d) a test of the financial circumstances of any person to determine the ability of that person to pay the amount referred to in paragraph (a) or the premium referred to in paragraph (c).

4. The amount of the contribution payable by Canada to a province for a year is the amount obtained by multiplying the base year payment by the product of the cost increase factor and the population increase factor.

5. For the purposes of section 4,

• (a) the cost increase factor is the quotient obtained by dividing the per diem cost of care determined by the Minister for the year for which a contribution is paid by the per diem cost of care determined by the Minister for the base year; and

• (b) the population increase factor is the quotient obtained by dividing

  • (i) an estimate of the number of persons in the total population of the province who were 65 years of age or over on October 1st of the year for which a contribution is paid

  by

  • (ii) an estimate of the number of persons in the total population of the province who were 65 years of age or over on whichever of the following dates last precedes or represents the first day of the seventh month of the base year, namely, January 1st, April 1st, June 1st, July 1st or October 1st.