Understanding the Evolving Realities of Care in Canada: Insights from the 2025 National Caregiving Survey

Background: Unpaid caregivers—family members, friends, and neighbours—form the backbone of Canada’s care system, supporting people with chronic conditions, disabilities, and age-related needs. Yet their essential contributions remain under-recognized and under-supported across health and social systems. Canada’s ongoing healthcare crisis and workforce shortages have intensified pressures on caregivers while deepening inequities in access to care.

 

To fill critical data and policy gaps, the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence (CCCE) launched the 2025 National Caregiving Survey—a comprehensive, pan-Canadian study designed to inform the development of equitable and integrated care systems. Grounded in co-design, the survey was developed through extensive consultation with caregivers, care recipients, and community partners with lived experience, ensuring its framing reflects the realities and priorities of those most directly affected.

The initiative aligns with four pillars of the International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC) framework:

Pillar 2: Population health needs and local context

Pillar 3: People as partners in health and care

Pillar 6: Workforce capacity and capability

Pillar 7: Digital solutions

 

Approach: The 2025 National Caregiving Survey engaged over 3,000 respondents from all provinces and territories, including caregivers, care recipients, care providers, and double-duty caregivers. Co-developed with individuals with lived experience, the survey prioritized inclusivity and accessibility, amplifying voices from Indigenous, racialized, rural, and newcomer communities.

Key domains examined caregiving intensity, health and well-being, access to services, financial and employment impacts, and interactions with health and social systems. New modules explored digital health use (Pillar 7), culturally safe care, and transitions between care settings. Quantitative data were weighted to reflect national demographics, and qualitative responses were thematically analyzed to identify population-specific differences (Pillar 2) and workforce touchpoints (Pillar 6).

Results: Preliminary findings reveal that one in four Canadians provides unpaid care, averaging 20 hours per week, with nearly one-third identifying as high-intensity caregivers. Despite regular engagement with formal care systems, only 38 percent feel meaningfully included as partners in care planning—underscoring persistent gaps in Pillar 3: People as partners in health and care.

Over half report significant mental health strain, and one in five have reduced paid work or left employment due to caregiving demands, indicating systemic challenges in Pillar 6: Workforce capacity and capability.

 

Caregivers from Indigenous, racialized, rural, and low-income communities experience higher burden and fewer supports, reinforcing Pillar 2: Population health needs and local context. Encouragingly, caregivers engaged with integrated care teams or supported by digital tools (Pillar 7) report greater satisfaction, improved coordination, and enhanced well-being.

 

Implications: The 2025 National Caregiving Survey underscores that caregivers must be embedded as full partners in integrated care systems. Meaningful inclusion of lived experience (Pillar 3) and responsiveness to population needs (Pillar 2) are essential for equitable, person- and family-centred care. Strengthening the paid and unpaid care workforce (Pillar 6) and expanding inclusive digital solutions (Pillar 7) can improve coordination, sustainability, and outcomes.

By grounding system reform in lived experience and integrated care principles, Canada can build a resilient, equitable, and people-centred care system that truly values caregivers as essential partners in care.