About John Best Living : Retirement Residences

Penguin Living properties are adapted for maximum accessibility to meet your needs. Our units are fresh, modern, and flooded with natural light. They boast spacious bedrooms, bathrooms, living and dining areas, plus green outdoor spaces that will keep you connected to the benefits of nature. You can find the finer details of our available properties in your area below.

Our Accessible Homes

In each of our Greater Toronto locations, accessible homes are available to rent with the option of hiring local, trusted care providers for an additional fee. Alternatively, you may move into your new home with a family member or your current personal service worker. Our homes are fully customizable and designed to adapt and support your lifestyle as your care needs change.

All our accessible homes are carefully designed to meet an extensive range of visual and mobility needs because every aspect of your residency should serve you, supporting your independence and dignity. Each area of your home is carefully designed to help minimize the need for reaching and stretching to improve safety while enhancing the ease of use for residents with visual, mobility, and dexterity impairments. Here are some ways our accessible housing units are adapted with immense attention to detail.

Kitchen

Your kitchen is the heart of your home. As such, we understand the importance of cooking and dining for every Canadian, which is why each of our homes has a state-of-the-art, fully accessible kitchen.

Key Kitchen Features:

• Countertops and cupboards with high contrast colour changes.
• Braille integrated into appliance labels.
• Wheelchair-accessible design with wheel-under countertops.
• Enlarged cabinet handles for easier grip.
• Side-mounted accessible compliant faucets.

Washroom

Using the toilet, showering, and grooming are some of the most essential activities of daily living. Using the washroom comfortably and as independently as possible is vital to maintaining good physical and mental health.

Key Washroom Features:

• High colour contrast trim, vanity, and floor tiles for visually impaired residents.
• Wheelchair-accessible toilet, shower, and sink.
• Spacious footprint to allow for the full turning radius of a wheelchair.
• Tilted mirrors allow viewing from a wheelchair without straining.
• Levered shower, sink, and toilet controls for residents with dexterity challenges like arthritis.

Bedroom

Your bedroom should be your sanctuary and safe haven. To achieve this, Penguin Living bedrooms are designed to promote the highest levels of accessibility and comfort.

Key Bedroom Features:

• Bright lighting and high colour contrast floor, surfaces, and light switches for visually impaired residents.
• Lowered windowsills allow wheelchair users to see outside with greater ease.
• Lighting can be controlled from the bed for added convenience.
• Pulldown clothing bars allow those with reduced mobility to reach without stretching.
• Levered handles on windows and doors that require fewer fine motor skills to operate.

Exterior

We’re passionate about empowering residents to gain the most benefit from the outside of their homes, too. Connection to nature and the outside world hugely benefits mental and physical well-being.

Key Exterior Features:

• Tactile walkways and pavers to help individuals with visual impairments navigate safely and with confidence.
• Clear property landmarks to provide proper orientation for those with visual impairments or cognitive disabilities.
• Walkways are kept under a 5% slope and steps to a maximum height of 6 inches.
• Exterior elevator access to help residents enter and exit their apartments safely.
• Levered door handles and keyless entry for individuals with dexterity impairments.
• Handrails for increased confidence and stability.