Implement a National Caregiving Strategy
According to the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, 50% of Canadians will be a caregiver at some point in their life. This includes end-of-life care and care for ill or disabled family members.
Caregivers spend 5.7 billion hours caring for people in their lives (4.2% of GDP) valued at $97.1B annually. $1.3B is lost in productivity per year. This is equivalent to over half a million employees dropping out of the labour force.
More than 7.8 million Canadians over the age of 15 provide approximately 20 hours a week of unpaid care.
A comprehensive plan is needed to help Canadians deal with the economic, health, stress, and other pressures that come with caregiving.
Recommendations
- That the federal government introduce a National Caregiving Strategy and work with provincial governments to implement it.
The Government of Canada announced in Budget 2024 plans to develop a National Caregiving Strategy.