How Do You Start a Home Care Agency in Canada?

Are You Ready to Start a Home Care Agency?

Before we begin this guide, there’s a few essential questions you need to ask yourself. Let’s run through them.

Is starting up a domiciliary care agency profitable?

It certainly can be. The need for home care services is constantly on the rise in Canada as families turn to home care agencies to help take care of seniors and patients recovering from accidents, chronic health issues and physical disabilities.

People are often more comfortable getting this help in the comfort of their own homes, as opposed to traditional nursing homes and senior facilities. This demand has led to the increasing need for domiciliary care agencies in Canada.

Research shows that the market size of home care agencies in Canada has grown on average 5.5% per year between 2017 and 2022 and is expected to increase at the end of 2022.

This demand shows that there is not only ample opportunities for entrepreneurs to venture into this industry, but that dedication, qualifications and professional compliance can lead to a thriving and profitable home care business.

What qualities do you need to start a home care business?

Despite how highly profitable the home care industry is, profits should not be the primary goal. As an entrepreneur intending to start a home care agency, you must possess certain important qualities as this industry is not for everyone.

Here are some of the important qualities you need to have or acquire if you want to start and maintain your home care agency successfully.

Visionary: You need to be motivated and resilient to become a home care provider. Business management skills will help manage and inspire your team to concentrate on care and growth before profits.

Risk taker: Starting and growing any business has risks, and new home care agencies are no different. As an entrepreneur, you do not only have to be a risk taker, but you also need to successfully assess risks and work hard to reduce them.

Creativity: You will need to think outside the box to come up with solutions to challenges facing your agency as well as new ideas to form a unique selling point that will help you stand out from competitors.

Passionate: You need to be passionate about caring for others. You must be kind, patient, compassionate, understanding, and caring. Possessing these qualities is important for your clients and employees.

What care will you provide?

Knowing the care your agency will provide is important for clear and well-defined business goals.

Below are the different categories of home care:

1. Non-medical home care: Personal care professionals assist with the basic tasks of living, like making the right meals, feeding, personal hygiene, getting out of bed, and climbing stairs.
2. Nursing care: Home nursing care, also known as home-based skilled nursing or long-term nursing, is for seniors who need medical care for chronic conditions or disabilities. Professionals who provide home-based nursing care are either Registered Nurses (RN) or Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs). They also help with basic living tasks but provide more specialized medical care, like monitoring vitals, ostomy care, ventilator support, administering shots and dressing wounds.
3. Home health care or specialty care: Home health care is like nursing care, but it focuses on patients with short-term but major health events such as stroke, Alzheimer, dementia, or heart attacks. Home health care must be prescribed by a doctor. This type of care aims to help patients return to living independently.

How Do You Set Up a Home Care Business?

Now that you understand what it takes to become a home care provider, let’s run through the fundamental elements of setting up your home care business.

Why your business plan is crucial

Having a good business plan gives your business a sense of direction. As an entrepreneur, it allows you to lay out your business goals and successfully track your progress to avoid costly mistakes. A well-written business plan also helps you get funding or bring on new business partners when needed.

However, drafting a business plan for domiciliary care is far more complex than a regular business plan. Some of the things you need to consider are:

• How your agency plans to operate
• What services do you plan to offer?
• Your target markets
• The number of employees you plan to have and your recruitment process
• Your mission statement and business vision
• How you plan to finance your start-up business
• Your operations process
• Marketing and pricing strategy
• The required legal and insurance certifications

Governing bodies you need to know

When starting up your home care agency in any district of Canada, it is important to know the necessary governing bodies as well as their inspection requirements. Private home care agencies are not regulated in Canada. However, Accreditation Canada offers accreditation to assess quality service delivery. The four values they have adopted are dignity and respect, information sharing, partnership and participation and collaboration.

Registration

You are required to register your business in the province or territory where you plan to start your home care agency to get licensed and accredited. You can register your business online with Canada revenue agency.

Some requirements are unique to different locations and municipalities. Visit BizPal to find out the specific business registration and permit requirements by just inputting your location and industry.

Regulations and Training

Starting a home care business requires understanding all industry rules and regulations. First, there are some necessary licenses and compliance from the provincial and municipal levels of government to function. The fundamentals are the Personal Information Protection because you will collect clients' personal information, and Health Information Protection if you are based in Ontario.

While you don’t need a specific qualification to start a home care business in Canada, we do encourage you to broaden your knowledge, skills, and expertise to thrive. There are many residential home care and training courses you can research.

Insurance considerations

Getting insurance for your home care business minimizes your financial losses due to unfortunate events.

Below are the types of insurance we consider useful to home care agencies.

• Crime insurance
• Equipment breakdown insurance
• Workers' compensation
• Professional and General Liability
• Medical malpractice cover
• Treatments liability insurance

Some insurance type considerations will also depend on your municipality and the services you want to provide. You can find out more details about insuring your business in Canada here.

Finding the right team

The quality and experience of your team members contribute to the smooth running of your home care agency.

Providing care in multiple locations requires recruiting suitable, reliable, and trustworthy staff. You need a team that represents and reflects what you want your business to be, so always be sure to conduct thorough background checks to avoid legal actions if there’s any problem with care from an employee.

Some important roles need to be occupied to ensure the smooth running of your agency.

Below are the important roles to fill in your agency:

• Executive manager
• Care coordinator/ care manager
• Director of nursing

The number of your staff depends on the size of your business. However, it is advisable to recruit between 10-20 staff for a start.

Costs and Funding Options for Your Home Care Agency

The cost of starting a home care agency

The cost of starting a home care agency can vary depending on the type of services your home care agency will be providing.

Though you may not necessarily need a location to operate from, you will need to buy assistive devices that will ease the team’s work and foster sustainability, especially if they are not being provided by clients. These include medical equipment, mobility aids, information technologies, practical aids, and gadgets.

Based on our research, we estimate that starting a domiciliary care agency would cost between $150,000 and $350,000 in Canada. Note that these costs might be lower or higher depending on the territory or province you intend to open your agency in.

Financing options for a domiciliary agency

Starting a home care agency can be capital intensive, and you might be wondering how to start a business with no money in Canada.

Thankfully, there are funding options available to you, and we have prepared a small business grants guide on elements to consider before applying for grants and other important details you need to know.

You can also consider loans to fund the start of your business. We have a dedicated guide on loans to buy a business, and while it focuses on purchasing a business, the loans are suitable for entrepreneurs wanting to start a business.

How Do You Market Your Home Care Business?

Once you have your business in place, the next element is to figure out a way to attract your target market. Effective marketing strategies have a crucial role to play in obtaining clients.

Here are five pragmatic tips on how you can promote your home care business through marketing.

• Website domain: Build a simple and basic website to get your information and name out online. Many free hosts help you create a functioning website, and you can always come back to your website to improve and edit it when needed.
• Social media: Social media platforms are the best and fastest way to get your business out to the public and to your target audience. Create an account with your business name on all relevant social media platforms. This is one of the best ways to promote your new agency.
• Referral marketing: Referral marketing is the use of recommendations and word of mouth to grow your customer base through the networks of your existing customers. Always set incentives to encourage your existing customers to promote and talk about your home care business to other people.
• Traditional advertising: This involves the use of billboards, handouts, print ads, broadcasting, etc., to advertise your business in your locality. Traditional advertising creates a bond between your business and your target market offline.
• Trade shows: Attending trade shows increases your visibility and gives you more networking opportunities. In business, networking is important, and home care agencies are no exception. One of the trade shows you can attend is the Together We Care Convention held annually in Toronto, Canada.

Starting a Home Care Business Is Not Your Only Option

Starting a home care business in Canada may seem a bit overwhelming. To reduce the risks and extra work involved in starting a business, franchising is also an effective route to consider.

Franchises have been a safer and more profitable option for entrepreneurs seeking business ownership. If you want to explore this route, feel free to explore our home care franchise opportunities.

You can also consider buying an existing home care agency with a working model that may just need improvement. We have prepared a buying a business guide to help you, if this option seems more attractive to you. You can also explore some home care businesses for sale on our site.

Here’s a checklist on how to start a home care agency in Canada.

• Decide on the type of care your agency will be providing.
• Create a business plan.
• Acquire the necessary skills and qualifications needed to start a home care agency in Canada.
• Explore different funding options to ease the financial burden of starting up a home care agency.
• Get your home care agency insured.
• Recruit competent staff.
• Market your agency using effective marketing methods.

Feel free to contact us if you need support or guidance on starting or buying a home care business.

We hope this guide offers you the support that you need.