Caregiver-Friendly Workplaces

Supportive Employers for Working Caregivers

Over six million Canadians perform both paid work and unpaid care to friends or family member. This amounts to 1 in every 3 employees in Canada. It costs organizations $1.3 billion (collectively) in lost productivity each year when working caregivers are not supported in their workplace.

Employers can mitigate these losses by implementing policies, programs, and practices that support caregivers in managing their work and care responsibilities.

CCCE is working with Christa Haanstra of ClarityHub Inc. and Nora Spinks of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises to facilitate a national conversation on caregiver-friendly workplaces. As part of this project, Christa and Nora will work closely with people with lived experience, caregiver organizations, employers, researchers, and thought leaders to gain a deeper understanding of the current landscape of caregiver-friendly workplaces. This will include conducting a cross-Canada analysis and facilitating co-design sessions to identify how best to support employed caregivers across the country. 

This initiative will build on existing supports and models, identify gaps and co-create a national strategy based on a shared vision and set of principles. Working with those with lived experience, our collective goal is to build a network focused on creating supportive environments that meet the needs of working caregivers now and in the future.

Supporting Caregivers Through Strategic Partnerships

Supporting Caregivers Through Strategic Partnerships is an initiative by Caregivers Alberta, which aims to build new caregiver support models in workplaces and in healthcare settings across the province.

With our support, Caregivers Alberta will grow partnerships with Alberta-based organizations and workplaces to support two emerging programs: Work & Care and Caregiver Centered Care

• Work & Care was developed in response to the needs of caregivers returning to the workplace post-pandemic. It creates awareness of the challenges experienced by employees with caregiving responsibilities, while assisting employers in helping to better support these employees.
• Caregiver Centered Care is a program of applied research & innovation in health services delivery in family caregiving, created by the University of Alberta.

The focus areas were chosen based on caregiver identified needs.