Canadian Affairs – ‘Hidden population’: Aging Canada needs caregivers who need support

About one in four Canadians provide unpaid care to a relative or friend who is aging, ill or disabled. Half of Canadians will be a caregiver at some point in their lives. 

More than a quarter — 28 per cent — care for both children and elderly parents at the same time, according to Giving Care. That’s a policy paper released last year by the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence, a research and advocacy organization for caregivers that is calling for a national caregiving strategy.

“It’s very hard to ignore a quarter of the population. It’s impossible to ignore half the population,” says James Janeiro, director of policy and government relations at the centre. “It’s the next frontier of public policy in Canada.”