Grand River Estates Retirement Home in Paris, previously known as the Penmarvian, has announced it will be closing its doors and discontinuing operations as of Friday, November 28, 2025.
In an email to the Brant Beacon, management for Grand River Estates said residents began receiving written notices about the upcoming closure of the home at the end of July.
“The decision to close Grand River Estates was an incredibly difficult decision that was made after careful consideration of many factors,” read the email. “On July 31, 2025, management communicated this decision to employees, residents, family members, and community partners via letter, email, and phone calls.”
Per section 49 of the Ontario Retirement Home Act, the home was required to give at least 120 days notice about the closure, giving residents and their families until November 28 to find new accommodations.
“During the transitional period, Grand River Estates will continue to provide full services and remains committed to supporting both our residents and employees,” the email continued.
According to the Hamilton Niagara Halton Brant Hotline, as well as the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority, Grand River Estates is a 45-bed licensed retirement home that provides personal care, medication administration, meals, an emergency response system, housekeeping and other assisted living services, all things that may not be easy to replace.
Maxine Farr, whose 82-year-old mother has been living at the home for just over four months, said that she was shocked to hear the news.
“They basically said, ‘we’re closing, and you have to move,’ and they gave the notice to her and not me, and I’m her power of attorney,” she said. “She called me and was so upset, saying that she had to move and that she had nowhere to go. All I got was an email from them saying the exact same thing as the letter, but with a list of retirement homes to contact.”
Farr said that since she heard the news, she’s been making phone calls day in and day out trying to find a place for her mother, and that while she finally managed to find a vacancy out of town this week, it was no easy task.
“I called every home on that list they gave out but they either had no space, or they were in the high $2,000 to $4,000 a month price range, plus services,” said Farr. “Who can afford that? She was calling me every day asking, ‘have you found a place yet?’”
Farr’s coworker, Nancy Giles, who watched as Farr tried to find a space for her mother, said she was worried for the residents, especially those who don’t have anyone to advocate for them.
“The deadline is only a few months away and there are a lot of residents there that basically have nowhere to go right now because spaces are so limited for retirement and long-term care homes,” said Giles. “Trying to find spaces for them is going to be difficult, especially with people who are lower income or have limited mobility.”
“I am deeply concerned about the residents because there are many people there that don’t have family that are going to be able to advocate for them,” she continued. “The stress that those residents must be under is probably really high.”
Giles, who works at the Brantford Seniors Resource Centre, said she would be happy to try to use her services and resources to connect people with retirement homes, but that the reality is that finding vacancies won’t be easy.
While the Brant Beacon posed several questions to Grand River Estates including: why exactly the home was closing, when the decision was made, how many residents and staff members would be affected by the closure, what kind of support was being provided to help residents find new placements, and if there was anything the public, donors or the government could do to prevent the closure, management said it would be providing no further comments.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
