Ontario has built nearly 6,700 long-term care beds with another 18,000 beds in the pipeline, a far cry from the province’s goal to add 58,000 new or upgraded beds by 2028, numbers released in the province’s fall fiscal update show.

Despite the shortfall, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy said Thursday the province will meet its goal, and an industry association believes recent funding changes will catalyze more nursing home builds.

The minister highlighted what he described as the paltry efforts of the previous Liberal government, which added just 611 long-term care beds from 2011 to 2018.

“We’ve made more investments and completed more beds in Pickering and Ajax in our term in office than the previous government did in seven years,” Bethlenfalvy said.

“So I think, yes, we’re going t

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