GASPÉ – Four investors have joined forces to acquire the Le Foyer de Gaspé seniors’ residence, thus ensuring the continuity of activities.

“For at least a year, we had been evaluating the opportunity to acquire the home. We have four complementary profiles. The need in the community is essential. There was a lack of succession. We seized this opportunity despite the major challenges we have encountered with the pandemic in recent years,” explains one of the partners, Marc Frenette.

The three other shareholders are Martin Boulay, Dan Gleeton and Jimmy Marticotte, specialists in construction, customer service and operations.

The residence, with 53 places, accommodates both independent and semi-independent seniors. Currently, forty-seven people reside there under the care of 23 employees.

The residents

seem happy

“For us, having people who are happy is important. The relationship that we will build is a key to the success of the establishment. It’s essential,” continues Mr. Frenette.

The new administrators were not afraid to embark on this new challenge, despite regulations having been tightened since the fire at the Résidence du Havre de l’Isle-Verte, which claimed 32 lives in January 2014, and the increased scrutiny following the upheaval in CHSLDs and RPAs during the pandemic.

“Here, we are compliant and we have everything we need. This was clearly part of the risk assessment in relation to the acquisition. There are the building and financial issues. There are a lot of factors. Yes, it scared us but the relationship with the CISSS, making sure we know the laws, knowing the points of contact, having a good network to ensure that we maintain services, and, above all, having a compliant establishment is what we want to ensure,” says Mr. Frenette.

Since 2021, around 500 seniors’ residences have closed their doors.

“It’s very risky. It’s very ambitious, but it’s a necessity to have these residences in the region. These are people who have needs. We are an aging population. The future was clearly uncertain if we had not invested,” says the group’s spokesperson.

The new owners do not wish to disclose the value of the transaction.

The residence has been in operation since 2017.

In addition to Foyer de Gaspé, the group of entrepreneurs has its sights set on other businesses in the region.

“We want to invest in the community and evaluate different scenarios for business succession projects in the region,” explains Marc Frenette. “We are aware that entrepreneurial succession is sometimes rare. For the continuity of our operations, we are evaluating the possibility of taking over companies in different sectors if the need arises.”