Ninth New Long-Term Care Home Opens in Nova Scotia as Debate Over Bed Targets Continues
Mountain Lea Lodge in Bridgetown is now fully operational, becoming the ninth new long-term care home to open in Nova Scotia. While the province highlights progress toward adding 1,900 rooms by March 2027, opposition critics argue the pace falls short of earlier promises.
Mountain Lea Lodge in Bridgetown has opened and is fully operational, marking the ninth new long-term care home to come online in Nova Scotia. Residents began moving into the facility in late September. 
The new lodge replaces an older building and features 96 resident rooms, each equipped with a private washroom. The rooms are organized into six households, with 16 residents in each.
With the completion of these nine homes, roughly 1,400 new or replacement rooms have been created across the province. Five additional homes currently under construction are expected to add approximately 500 more rooms, bringing the total to about 1,900 by March 31, 2027. This effort is part of a broader provincial mandate to add 5,700 rooms for seniors across 53 new and replacement homes by 2032.
Despite the government's reported progress, NDP MLA Rod Wilson has raised concerns about the pace of development. Wilson stated that the government promised 3,500 new and replacement long-term care beds by 2027 but noted that only 1,320 are currently open. 
Demand for long-term care remains high in the province. About 8,000 Nova Scotians currently live in a long-term care facility, and the average wait time in the Annapolis Valley region is four months. Demographic pressures are expected to intensify, as almost 22 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population is 65 and older, a figure projected to grow to about 25 per cent by 2032.