The Ontario Caregiver Coalition Calls

on the Government of Ontario

to Address the Cost of Caregiving

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ontario, Canada

 

Tuesday, April 4, 2023 – This Family Caregiver Day, The Ontario Caregiver Coalition is marking Family Caregiver Day by calling on the Government of Ontario to address the significant costs caregivers incur to take care of their loved ones.

 

Caregivers take on a number of responsibilities to fill the gaps in our healthcare system to ensure their loved ones receive the care they need. These costs include the money it takes to pay for care, the time and energy it takes to provide care, the relationships you sacrifice in order to be there for a loved one, and the autonomy caregivers lose because they are making decisions out of exhaustion rather than the needs and desires of their loved ones. “We hear all the time from caregivers who are at their wit’s end,” Lauren Bates, Chair of the Ontario Caregiver Coalition, said. “We need to hear from the government that they are taking these concerns seriously and taking action to fix them.”

 

To that end, the Ontario Caregiver Coalition has been meeting with and is calling on the Ontario legislature’s Standing Committee on Social Policy to look into developing a full suite of effective options to address caregiver financial distress, including:

 

• Direct financial support, such as an allowance or refundable tax credit

• Services to enable caregivers to balance work and care better

• Expanding access to direct funding programs

 

One in four Ontarians are a caregiver – and one in two will become one in their lifetime. Asking caregivers to bear the brunt of these costs with minimal to no support is not sustainable for them. But without them, our health care system would collapse – and some of the most vulnerable in our society would be completely abandoned. With our aging demographics and the state of our healthcare system, the time to act to support caregivers is now.

 

Family Caregiver Day is celebrated annually on the first Tuesday in April.

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Media Contact

Daniel Nowoselski - 647-562-5929 or Ontariocaregivercoalitionocc@gmail.com

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