A new national survey shows caregiving is draining Canada's workforce and retirement savings
One in four Canadians is already a caregiver and at least half will be one before they die.
That quiet reality is draining the country's workforce and costing the economy an estimated $97.1bn a year in unpaid labour, according to Caring in Canada 2026, a national survey of more than 2,600 caregivers and care providers published in May 2026 by the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence (CCCE).
The numbers land hard.
Forty-nine percent of caregivers report financial strain from their responsibilities.
More than one-third of working caregivers — 36 percent — say their productivity has suffered, they have lost earnings, or they cannot balance work and care.
Twenty-two percent have stopped saving altogether.
Fifty-eight percent of caregivers are employed, yet they still provide an average of 5.1 hours of care per day on top of work — the equivalent of a 36-hour second shift every week.
The financial pressure of covering care costs forces 17 percent of working caregivers to work more hours, pushes 9 percent to delay retirement, and drives 5 percent to find a second job.
A slightly smaller share of caregivers report being in the workforce in 2025 than in 2023, down 3 percent, including fewer full-time employees.
The sandwich generation carries the heaviest load.
Caregivers aged 35 to 54 show the highest rates of burnout — 25 percent — and are most likely to have stopped saving.
These are prime working-age Canadians losing ground on earnings and retirement security simultaneously.
One in five spends $12,000 or more annually on out-of-pocket care expenses before accounting for lost income.
Despite existing tax relief, more than half of caregivers — 51 percent — are unfamiliar with care-related tax credits, and only 13 percent have used them.
Canada's paid care workforce is itself at a breaking point.
Seventy-three percent of care providers have considered leaving the profession, citing low pay, burnout, and lack of job security.
Among attendants for people with disabilities, that figure rises to 90 percent.
More than half of care providers — 59 percent — do not feel they are paid fairly.
Two in five report insufficient staffing on their shifts. And one-third of unpaid caregivers are already filling gaps inside long-term care and nursing homes, effectively subsidizing an under-resourced system with their own unpaid labour.
Seventy-seven percent of caregivers report negative impacts on their well-being — fatigue, stress, and anxiety being most common.
Nearly one in five says they are burned out and unsure whether they can continue.
Yet only 13 percent of caregivers have received supports or services designed for them.
Among those who have not, 40 percent do not know if they are eligible and 35 percent do not know what is available.
The caregiving experience has not improved since CCCE's first national survey in 2023. For some caregivers, access to supports has declined.
Eighty-five percent of caregivers say a monthly allowance to offset care costs would help their financial situation.
Eighty-two percent say crediting caregiving years in the Canada Pension Plan — similar to the existing child-rearing provision — is important to protecting long-term retirement security.
On the employer side, 83 percent of working caregivers would find partially paid caregiving leave financially helpful, and 81 percent say caregiver-friendly workplace policies matter.
For the paid workforce, 91 percent of care providers say better working conditions would encourage them to stay in the sector, with higher pay cited as the top retention factor.
Sixty-five percent of caregivers and care providers say caregiving policy influences how they vote — across regions, demographics, and political affiliations.
Forty-four percent are disappointed in the federal government's progress, and 61 percent of caregivers do not feel supported by government.
The federal government committed in Budget 2024 to launching consultations on a national caregiving strategy, a commitment the current government's 2025 election platform reinforced.
The CCCE's National Caregiving Strategy outlines a five-pillar roadmap: better supports and services for caregivers, workforce protections, expanded financial supports for care recipients, a sustainable paid care workforce, and federal leadership.
