Getting paid to care for a family member in Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is one of the clearest provinces in Canada on this question. Its Provincial Home Support Services Program includes an explicit Paid Family Caregiving Option, which lets an approved home support client use their assessed funding to pay a relative for care instead of an agency worker.
Which relatives can be paid
The option covers parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and relatives residing in the same home. Spouses and common-law partners are excluded — they cannot be paid under this option, which is the single most common reason families are turned down.
Who qualifies
- • The applicant must be a new or current adult home support client with a long-term home support need.
- • They must meet both the clinical and the financial assessment.
- • The care need must be for personal care or behavioural support that is appropriately provided by a family member.
How much funding is available
Funding is individually assessed within a ceiling — the numbers below are maximums, not amounts everyone receives:
- • Personal care and behavioural support: up to 4 hours per day for seniors, or 5 hours per day for adults with disabilities.
- • Homemaking and meal preparation support: up to 1 hour per day for meal prep and 2 hours per week for homemaking.
- • Respite is paid on invoice only.
How to apply
Contact your regional health authority — Eastern Health, Central Health, Western Health, or Labrador-Grenfell Health — and ask for a home support assessment. A worker completes an in-person assessment and builds a support plan with you. Once the paid family caregiving arrangement is in place, expect quarterly monitoring visits to review how the plan is working.
Official source
gov.nl.ca/hcs/long-term-care/family-caregiving
Caring in a different province? See the Canada hub.