How home care is paid for in British Columbia
Start by understanding what the public system already covers, then decide what makes sense for your family. Here is how home care is funded in BC, written by a private agency that would rather you knew.
Start with a health authority assessment
If you have not been assessed for publicly funded home support, it is worth doing. It is income-tested, it is free for many people on a modest fixed income, and where it meets your needs, it costs less than private care.
Vancouver, Richmond and the North Shore: Vancouver Coastal Health. Burnaby, Surrey, Coquitlam and the Fraser Valley: Fraser Health. Or call HealthLink BC on 8-1-1, free, at any hour.
Six funding routes worth knowing about
Whatever you decide about private care, these are worth ten minutes to check.
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Health authority home support
Anyone assessed as needing personal assistance or caregiver respite
Publicly funded personal care at home. The daily rate is based on your income, and there is no charge at all for people receiving the Guaranteed Income Supplement, the Allowance, BC Employment and Assistance benefits, or a War Veterans Allowance.
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CSIL: Choice in Supports for Independent Living
Adults 19+ with a significant physical disability, already eligible for home support
Your health authority pays the funding to you and you become the employer: hiring, scheduling, payroll and reporting. A lot of control, and a real administrative load. A representative or support group can act as the employer instead.
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Veterans Affairs Canada
Eligible veterans and, in some circumstances, surviving spouses
The Veterans Independence Program can fund housekeeping, grounds maintenance and personal care at home. If there is any military service in the family, ask.
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ICBC and WorkSafeBC claims
Where care is needed because of a crash or a workplace injury
Attendant care and housekeeping can be covered under an ICBC claim, and personal care under a WorkSafeBC claim. Tell us about the claim at the assessment, and we will provide the records the adjuster needs.
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Extended health and long-term care insurance
Anyone holding a policy that covers home care
Worth checking even if you think you do not have one: some people hold long-term care cover through a former employer and have forgotten it. We provide the receipts and records insurers ask for.
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First Nations Health Authority
People living in many First Nations communities in BC
Home and community care is delivered through FNHA and Nation-based programmes rather than the regional health authority. The route in is different, and it is the right place to start.
What drives the cost, and what we will not add to it
We quote after the assessment, when we actually know what is needed. What we can tell you in advance is exactly what the number is made of.
How many hours
The biggest factor. Two hours a week of the right help is often more useful than eight hours of the wrong kind.
When those hours fall
Overnights, weekends and statutory holidays cost more. We state those rates up front.
What the hours involve
Companionship and hands-on personal care are priced differently, because they call for different skills.
Minimum visit length
Two hours. By the time a caregiver has arrived, read the plan and greeted the client, a very short visit is mostly logistics, so you would be paying for travel, not care.
Where you are
Not as a surcharge, but because a hard-to-reach address may be one we cannot staff consistently. We would rather say so than promise a schedule we will miss.
How many caregivers
Where an assessment says a transfer needs two people or a lift, that is not negotiable: it is how people avoid being dropped.
What we do not charge for
- No assessment fee
- No membership or registration fee
- No monthly administration charge
- No lump sum up front
- No charge for the care plan, or for reviewing it
One hourly rate, with any premiums stated in writing before you agree to anything, and no stacked fees on top.
About money
What does home care cost?
It depends on how many hours you need, what those hours involve, and when they fall: overnights, weekends and statutory holidays cost more. We quote after the assessment, when we actually know what is required, and the quote is one hourly rate with no membership fee, no assessment fee and no administration charge stacked on top. Our costs page explains how home care is funded in BC, including the publicly funded options you may be entitled to before you pay us anything.
Should we be using publicly funded home support instead?
Possibly, and we will say so. If your needs are met by a health authority home support assessment, that is cheaper than we are, and you should use it. Private care makes sense when you need hours the public system does not fund, a schedule it cannot commit to, the same caregiver each visit, or care that starts this week. Many families use both.
Get a straight answer about cost
Fifteen minutes on the phone will tell you roughly where you stand, including whether you should be talking to your health authority before you talk to us.