A new proposal wants the federal government to fund the care economy the same way it funds roads and energy corridors
Unpaid caregiving in Canada carries a price tag of between $517bn and $860bn annually, according to Statistics Canada.
The burden falls disproportionately on the workforce and, by extension, on the employers and pension systems that depend on it.
The Canadian Women's Chamber of Commerce (CanWCC) released a May 2026 proposal calling on Ottawa to designate a National Care Economy Strategy as a nation-building project under the Major Projects Office, the federal body that coordinates large-scale infrastructure investments under the Building Canada Act.
CanWCC argues that childcare, elder care, long-term care, disability supports, home care, mental health services, and caregiving income supports function as economic infrastructure and should be funded accordingly.
Healthcare and social services already employ roughly one in four Canadian workers, according to Statistics Canada.
Paid care work contributes approximately 12 percent of GDP, more than mining and oil and gas combined, according to The Care Economy Statement.
Yet Canada spends less on social services than the OECD average.
The demographic trajectory makes the gap harder to ignore.
Statistics Canada's 2026 population projections show Canadians aged 65 and over accounted for 19.5 percent of the population in 2025, with the 85-and-over cohort projected to grow from 951,833 to between 3.3 million and 4.2 million by 2075.
Ontario alone is projected to need more than 50,000 additional personal support workers and 33,000 nurses by 2032, CBC News reported.
Women bear the largest share of that pressure.
Statistics Canada data cited in the proposal show women are more likely to reduce paid work hours due to caregiving responsibilities and more likely to experience financial hardship as a result.
Those outcomes have direct implications for lifetime earnings, pension contributions, and retirement security.
CanWCC's central argument is structural.
The proposal cites Oxford Review of Economic Policy research showing care systems produce long-term economic returns comparable to physical infrastructure, including:
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Higher labour-force participation
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Improved productivity
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Reduced healthcare system strain
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Greater economic resilience during demographic and public health shocks
The critical distinction, the proposal argues, is how governments classify care spending.
Treating it as an annual operating expenditure rather than a long-term capital investment keeps it subject to short-term fiscal pressures rather than the cost-benefit frameworks applied to roads, pipelines, and energy corridors.
A 2024 Royal Society of Canada report found the pandemic exposed critical gaps in the care economy, including:
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Intensified labour shortages in caregiving sectors
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Increased unpaid caregiving burdens
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Severe human and economic fallout from weaknesses in long-term care
A May 7 Canadian simulation through the ILO's Care Policy Investment Simulator estimated the additional investment needed to achieve recommended care outcomes by 2030 at US$75bn per year.
The simulation estimated 30 percent would be recouped through increased tax revenues.
The return on investment for parental leave and early childhood care and education policies alone was projected at US$1.58 per US$1 invested, with net job creation exceeding one million positions — 87.25 percent filled by women.
The proposal argues a national care strategy meets all five MPO nation-building criteria under the Building Canada Act and can build on existing federal commitments, including the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system and Budget 2024's National Caregiving Strategy commitment.
CanWCC will host a public online town hall on May 28.
