This report estimates the economic footprint of home and community care in Canada, highlighting the implications of caregiving employees for businesses, and shedding light on the potential spending implications of shifting some care from institutions to homes.
Document Highlights
Demand for home and community care is expected to grow dramatically as the population ages. Planning for the future of the sector requires that its current economic footprint be understood.
Total estimated spending on home and community care in 2010 ranged from $8.9 billion to $10.5 billion, accounting for between 4.6 and 5.5 per cent of total health spending in Canada. Between 22 and 27 per cent was paid by private sources.
There are opportunities to address key health system challenges by substituting home and community care services for acute or long-term services.
The home and community care sector relies heavily on volunteer efforts and unpaid care, something that raises concerns about the sustainability of the sector going forward. The estimated cost to Canadian businesses was over $1.28 billion in 2007 in lost productivity as a result of caregivers missing full days of work, missing hours of work, or even quitting or losing their jobs.
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