Toronto has one Hardship Fund. Westin serves all of it at home.
Westin Healthcare serves Old Toronto, North York, East York and former York with delivery, installation, service and repairs, and free in-home assessments.
If someone is leaving Toronto General, St. Michael's or Michael Garron, or cannot manage the turning stair in a Cabbagetown bay-and-gable, that is the work. The City of Toronto Hardship Fund exists here. It does not exist in Peel, Halton, York Region or Durham.
Delivery, installation and service across Toronto.
Westin Healthcare serves Old Toronto, North York, East York and former York with delivery, installation, service and repairs, and free in-home assessments, from a Cabbagetown semi to a Willowdale bungalow to a Yonge corridor tower. Our team confirms access, delivery and installation details for the home.
Call 905 451-7743 to plan a delivery, or book a free in-home assessment and we bring the equipment options to the house. To try a chair or a lift in person, visit the Brampton showroom at Unit 7, 15 Fisherman Drive, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm; Saturday hours are listed on the contact page.
This page is written for the former City of Toronto, North York, East York and York: the parts of today's single-tier City of Toronto that are not Etobicoke and not Scarborough. Those two former municipalities joined the same city on 1 January 1998 and use the same Hardship Fund. Their hospitals and housing stock are different, so they are not treated as this slug.
Toronto and East York dwellings are 53.4 percent high-rise. Milton is not.
City Planning's 2021 census profile for the Toronto and East York community council area counts 448,365 occupied private dwellings. Of those, 239,215 (53.4 percent) are apartments in buildings of five or more storeys, 91,935 (20.5 percent) are in buildings under five storeys, and only 50,305 (11.2 percent) are single-detached. 163,545 dwellings (36.5 percent) were built in 1960 or before. Tenure is 56.2 percent rented.
City-wide the high-rise share drops to 46.7 percent and single-detached rises to 23.3 percent, because North York and the rest of the amalgamated city pull the average toward ground-related houses. Official Plan Neighbourhoods still cover 35.4 percent of the city's land and are described as detached, semi-detached, duplex, triplex, townhouse and walk-up apartments. Apartment Neighbourhoods are only 3.5 percent of the land and hold a large share of the units.
Bay-and-gable stairs and a small porch
The local house type in Cabbagetown, the Annex and much of old Toronto is the bay-and-gable: a two-and-a-half storey brick semi or row on a lot commonly 12 to 25 feet wide, with a side hall and, on the narrowest lots, the stair to the second floor in the front hall. The main floor is raised. The porch is small. That is a curved or custom stairlift, a narrow-frame manual chair, and a porch lift or short modular ramp, not a long rural ramp. We measure the stair. We do not invent a millimetre width for every Cabbagetown house.
Curved stairliftsOne in five Toronto-East York homes has no high-rise elevator
20.5 percent of those dwellings are in buildings under five storeys. Many of those walk-ups have only stairs. A curved rail on a shared stair is usually a corporation or landlord decision, not a decision the tenant can make alone. A compact folding chair that lives in the suite is often the honest product. We do not claim every walk-up is elevator-free. Census does not publish that.
Folding wheelchair rentalA Toronto tower delivery needs a booked elevator
53.4 percent of Toronto and East York dwellings sit in buildings of five or more storeys. City-wide the figure is 46.7 percent. A large share of the 1961-1980 stock is slab towers, and 85,000 Toronto dwellings were built in 2016-2021, most of them high-rise. A hospital bed or patient lift needs corridor width, the suite door, and usually a booked freight or service elevator. That booking is a condo corporation or landlord rule.
Hospital bed rental in TorontoBungalows, backsplits and sidesplits, not bay-and-gables
North York grew as a suburban municipality from 1922 and was built out after the war. The ground-related stock around Willowdale and the Civic Centre is more bungalow, backsplit and sidesplit than Victorian semi. A straight indoor rail on the split and a porch lift at the raised entry are the usual pair. We do not invent a neighbourhood bungalow percentage. The North York census tables were not extracted for this page.
Straight stairlifts
Bay-and-gable, North York split, tower or walk-up. The equipment changes.
A bay-and-gable in Cabbagetown, a North York sidesplit, a Parkdale walk-up and a Yonge corridor condo are four different jobs. Pick the closest match. This is a starting point, not a quote.
Hospital beds after Toronto General. Curved rails for a Cabbagetown hall stair.
The product list is the same catalogue we carry across the GTA. The mix that actually gets used in this slug is not. Downtown discharges ask for beds, lifts and bathroom safety. Old Toronto houses ask for curved stairlifts and porch lifts. Towers ask for folding chairs and scooters that will store in a suite.
Hospital bed rental
ADP does not fund hospital beds. After Toronto General, St. Michael's, Mount Sinai or Michael Garron, families usually rent while they sort Hardship Fund, insurance or a longer stay. We deliver the bed. You book the elevator with the building if the suite is in a tower.
Toronto hospital bed rentalCurved stairlifts
A bay-and-gable stair turns. A straight rail does not. Handicare 4000, Freecurve and Access Flow X are the curved lines we install when the measure says the hall and the winders will take a rail. TESS will not pay for that rail. March of Dimes HVMP may be a route when its eligibility and authorization rules fit.
Access Flow X curved stairliftPorch lifts and short ramps
The typical old-Toronto porch is a few steps, not a long grade. A vertical platform lift or a short modular ramp fits that better than a farm-length run. TESS does not pay for porch lifts or home modifications. Threshold ramps can sit on the City medical-items list with an OT assessment.
Porch liftsManual and folding chairs
A 12 to 25 foot lot with a side hall is a width problem. We fit narrow-frame manuals and folding chairs that live in the suite. ADP funds eligible manual and power wheelchairs, approved scooters, wheelchair seating and wheeled walkers at up to 75 percent. It does not fund the Cabbagetown stair, the porch ramp or the bathroom.
Manual wheelchairsScooters and folding power
A scooter in a Yonge corridor condo has to clear the unit door, sit in the suite or on an approved balcony, and follow lobby rules. Those rules are the corporation's. Approved scooters can go through ADP. Storage and lobby use cannot.
Scooter rental in TorontoPatient lifts, not ceiling tracks from TESS
A floor lift after a downtown stay is a common rental. TESS will consider electric and manual floor lifts. It will not pay for a ceiling track. Ceiling tracks go to March of Dimes HVMP. ADP does not cover lifts of either kind.
Patient lift rentalsDischarge from these hospitals is why families in this city call.
These references help families plan; contact the facility directly for its own services. The names matter because this is where a Toronto hospital bed, wheelchair or lift actually starts: a planner at Toronto General, a social worker at St. Michael's, an OT at Toronto Rehab University Centre. Scarborough Health Network, Etobicoke General and Queensway Health Centre belong on the other city pages, not here.
Downtown and west end
Toronto General Hospital (UHN), 200 Elizabeth Street. Toronto Western Hospital (UHN), 399 Bathurst Street. Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (UHN), 610 University Avenue. Mount Sinai Hospital, 600 University Avenue. St. Michael's Hospital (Unity Health), 30 Bond Street. Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue. Women's College Hospital, 76 Grenville Street. St. Joseph's Health Centre (Unity Health), 30 The Queensway in Parkdale, not Etobicoke. Casey House, 119 Isabella Street. CAMH Queen Street Site, 1001 Queen Street, and College Street Site, 250 College Street.
East York and North York
Michael Garron Hospital (Toronto East Health Network), 825 Coxwell Avenue. Humber River Hospital, 1235 Wilson Avenue. North York General Hospital, 4001 Leslie Street, plus the Finch Site at 555 Finch Avenue West. Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Bayview Campus, 2075 Bayview Avenue. Baycrest Hospital, 3560 Bathurst Street.
UHN Toronto Rehab, Bridgepoint, West Park
UHN Toronto Rehab: University Centre at 550 University Avenue, Bickle Centre at 130 Dunn Avenue, Lyndhurst Centre at 520 Sutherland Drive (spinal cord), Rumsey Centre at 347 Rumsey Road, and Hillcrest at 47 Austin Terrace. Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital (Sinai Health), 14 St. Matthews Road. Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, 150 Kilgour Road. Runnymede Healthcare Centre, 625 Runnymede Road. Toronto Grace Health Centre, 650 Church Street. Sunnybrook St. John's Rehab, 285 Cummer Avenue. West Park Healthcare Centre (UHN), 170 Emmett Avenue in Mount Dennis, specialized rehab and complex care, no emergency department.
City homes: Carefree Lodge to True Davidson Acres
Carefree Lodge, 306 Finch Avenue East (North York). Castleview Wychwood Towers, 351 Christie Street. Cummer Lodge, 205 Cummer Avenue. Fudger House, 439 Sherbourne Street. True Davidson Acres, 200 Dawes Road in East York. Also verified on this slug: Kensington Gardens, 25 and 45 Brunswick Avenue; Belmont House, 55 Belmont Street; Christie Gardens, 600 Melita Crescent (retirement community); Lakeside Long-Term Care Centre (UHN), 150 Dunn Avenue; West Park Long-Term Care Centre on the Emmett Avenue campus. Ontario Health atHome, Toronto Central, handles placement: 1-833-515-1234. Kipling Acres, Bendale Acres and Seven Oaks sit on the other packs.
A bed after Toronto General or St. Michael's is a rental more often than a purchase. The Hardship Fund can fund a hospital bed for a low-income Toronto resident who is not on OW or ODSP, with an OT assessment. ADP will not. If the person is already on OW or ODSP, the caseworker uses the same TESS medical-items list. People living in long-term care are outside Hardship Fund.
See hospital beds, Toronto bed rental, and the Hardship Fund guide.
Toronto has a municipal Hardship Fund. Brampton does not.
The administering body is Toronto Employment and Social Services, City of Toronto. There is no separate Old Toronto, North York, East York or York hardship office. Do not send a Mississauga or Brampton resident to 416-338-8888.
Hardship Fund
Low-income Toronto residents who are not receiving Ontario Works, Emergency Assistance or ODSP can apply for help with medically based items. Call 416-338-8888 and choose option 3. There is no public form. Apply before you pay. The City may refuse reimbursement after the fact.
On the TESS medical-items list that Hardship Fund uses: hospital beds and therapeutic mattresses (OT assessment), floor lifts and slings, threshold ramps, toilet and bath aids, and the 25 percent ADP leaves on approved wheelchairs and scooters. TESS does not pay for porch lifts, stairlifts, ceiling track lifts or home modifications. Those go to March of Dimes HVMP.
Talk to the caseworker, not Hardship Fund
The same TESS medical-items list still applies. The door is the caseworker, not 416-338-8888 option 3. ADP often pays 100 percent of an approved wheelchair or scooter for someone on social assistance, so the City 25 percent top-up is not the path.
ADP itself is provincial. It is not a Toronto program. It funds eligible manual and power wheelchairs, approved scooters, wheelchair seating and wheeled walkers at up to 75 percent for people who are not on social assistance. It does not fund bathroom equipment, beds, stairlifts, ramps or lifts. Dressing ADP as a local talking point is how the old city pages failed.
Still available here
WSIB, Veterans Affairs Canada, Interim Federal Health Program, Non-Insured Health Benefits, Easter Seals Ontario, Muscular Dystrophy Canada, War Amps, tax credits and private insurance. See the funding index.
Do not apply these here
Halton Low-Income Financial Assistance is for Burlington, Oakville and Milton. Peel ODSP discretionary benefits are for Peel. Durham and Hamilton have no municipal equipment hardship program on the public pages we checked.
Toronto Hardship Fund, Toronto General, and a bay-and-gable stair.
If a question would still read as true in Milton, it is not on this list.
Do you deliver and install in downtown Toronto?
Yes. Westin Healthcare serves downtown Toronto, North York, East York and former York with delivery, installation, service and repairs, and free in-home assessments. Our team confirms access, delivery and installation details for the home.
Can the Toronto Hardship Fund pay for a hospital bed?
Yes, for a low-income City of Toronto resident who is not on Ontario Works, Emergency Assistance or ODSP, when the item is on the TESS medical-items list and an occupational therapist assessment supports it. If the person is already on OW or ODSP, they use the caseworker and the same list, not Hardship Fund. ADP does not fund hospital beds anywhere in Ontario. People living in long-term care are outside this program.
Who delivers a hospital bed after discharge from Toronto General or St. Michael's?
Westin delivers and installs in homes across this city; contact the hospital directly about its own discharge steps. If the home is a condo or rental tower, book the elevator with the property manager before the bed arrives; that booking is a building rule.
Can you install a stairlift in a Cabbagetown or Annex bay-and-gable?
Often yes, after we measure. The constraint is the narrow hall and the turning or winder stair that the bay-and-gable type puts in the front hall. A curved rail is the common answer. A straight rail is the wrong answer on a turn. We will not promise a fit from a photograph. TESS will not pay for the stairlift. March of Dimes HVMP may be a route when its eligibility and authorization rules fit.
Do Toronto condos require an elevator booking for a hospital bed?
Many corporations and landlords require a booked elevator for a large delivery. That is a private building rule. Confirm with the board or property manager, especially in a 1960s-80s slab tower or a post-2000 condo in the Yonge-Bay corridor.
I live in North York or East York. Is that the same Hardship Fund?
Yes. North York, East York and former York ceased to be separate municipalities on 1 January 1998. The Hardship Fund is run by Toronto Employment and Social Services for residents of the amalgamated City of Toronto. There is no North York hardship office and no East York hardship office. Call 416-338-8888, option 3. The same is true for Etobicoke and Scarborough, even though those districts have their own pages on this site.
Does ADP cover a stairlift in Toronto?
No. ADP is a provincial program. It funds eligible manual and power wheelchairs, approved scooters, wheelchair seating and wheeled walkers. It does not fund stairlifts, porch lifts, ramps, bathroom equipment, beds or other lifts, in Toronto or anywhere else in Ontario. In this city March of Dimes HVMP may be a route for a stairlift when its eligibility and authorization rules fit, not Hardship Fund and not ADP.
Does the Hardship Fund pay for a porch lift on a raised Toronto porch?
No. TESS states that it does not pay for porch lifts, stairlifts or home modifications. A short modular ramp or a threshold ramp can be a different item on the medical-items list, with an OT assessment. A porch lift at a Cabbagetown or Annex bay-and-gable goes to March of Dimes HVMP.
Pages people in this city actually use
Book a free assessment in Toronto
Tell us the hospital if this is a discharge, and the house type if this is a stair or a porch. Westin Healthcare serves Toronto with delivery, installation, service and free in-home assessments.