Home care in Burnaby
Burnaby packs high-rise towers, post-war bungalows and steep hillsides into one city, and the care that works in a Metrotown apartment is not the care that works on a Capitol Hill slope.
Fraser Health home and community care
Burnaby’s publicly funded home support is arranged by Fraser Health. As in the rest of the province it starts with an assessment, it is income-tested, and if it meets your needs it is cheaper than we are. We will say so.
Fraser Health also administers Choice in Supports for Independent Living (CSIL) for eligible Burnaby residents, self-managed funding for adults with significant physical disabilities who want to employ their own workers. Our costs and funding guide explains how that works and who qualifies.
Coming home from hospital
Burnaby Hospital is being redeveloped, so departments have been moving. If a discharge is coming, tell us the ward and the date and we will plan around it.
Burnaby residents are also treated at Royal Columbian in New Westminster, where discharges can come quickly.
Getting around
SkyTrain makes Burnaby easy to reach, but it is little help to a client with a walker and a hospital appointment. We schedule with travel time built in, so it does not come out of a visit.
Local knowledge
Burnaby is Fraser Health, not Vancouver Coastal
This catches families out constantly, particularly anyone who has moved from Vancouver. Boundary Road is the line. If you live in Burnaby, your publicly funded home and community care is arranged through Fraser Health, not VCH, and a referral sent to the wrong authority simply sits there.
Towers and hills, two different jobs
Around Metrotown, Brentwood and Edmonds the challenges are vertical: elevators, fob access, long internal corridors, and getting a walker from a unit to the street. On Capitol Hill, Burnaby Mountain and the Deer Lake slopes they are the opposite: steep driveways, exterior stairs and streets that are genuinely difficult in January. Both go in the assessment.
Language matters more here than most places
Burnaby is one of the most linguistically diverse cities in Canada, and for someone with dementia the later stages often mean returning to a first language entirely. We weigh language match seriously when assigning caregivers and we will tell you honestly if we cannot meet a request.
What we do in Burnaby
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Personal care
Hands-on help with bathing, dressing, toileting and moving safely
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Home support & homemaking
Meals, laundry, light housekeeping and the errands that keep a home running
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Companionship & social support
Conversation, outings and the routine of a person who reliably shows up
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Dementia care at home
Consistent caregivers, familiar routines, and a calm approach to hard moments
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Respite for family caregivers
Planned, reliable breaks so the person providing care can keep providing it
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Hospital to home
Extra support through the first weeks after a hospital stay
Talk to someone who knows Burnaby
A free assessment at home, usually within a few days. We will look at the stairs, the bathroom and the route to the front door, not just fill in a form.