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                                  EXHIBIT 31.1

                CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350,
      AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302 OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002
     AND RULE 13a-14(a) /15d-14(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

I, Mel Rhinelander, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of
Extendicare Health Services, Inc., certify that:

         1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of
                  Extendicare Health Services, Inc.

         2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
                  statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
                  necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
                  circumstances under which such statements were made, not
                  misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

         3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
                  financial information included in this report, fairly present
                  in all material respects the financial condition, results of
                  operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for,
                  the periods presented in this report;

         4.       The registrant's other certifying officer and I are
                  responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure
                  controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
                  13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:

                  (a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or
                      caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be
                      designed under our supervision, to ensure that material
                      information relating to the registrant, including its
                      consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
                      within those entities, particularly during the period in
                      which this report is being prepared;

                  (b) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                      controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                      conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
                      controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
                      covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

                  (c) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                      internal control over financial reporting that occurred
                      during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the
                      registrant's fourth quarter in the case of an annual
                      report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably
                      likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
                      control over financial reporting; and

         5.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I have
                  disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal
                  control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors
                  and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors
                  (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

                  (a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in
                      the design or operation of internal control over financial
                      reporting, which are reasonably likely to adversely affect
                      the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize and
                      report financial information; and

                  (b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                      management or other employees who have a significant role
                      in the registrant's internal control over financial
                      reporting.

/s/ Mel Rhinelander
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Mel Rhinelander
Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer
November 12, 2003

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