Choosing a Home Care Agency in Calgary: Questions to Ask

You are about to hand a stranger the keys to your mother’s home. That is what choosing a home care agency really means, and it is why so many adult children in Calgary lose sleep over this decision. Here is the good news: a handful of direct questions will tell you quickly who deserves your trust. Any good agency should welcome every question on this list. If someone gets vague or defensive, that is an answer too.

Print this page or keep it open on your phone. We have added KapwaCare’s own answers, briefly and honestly, so you can see what a straight answer looks like.

1. Are your caregivers employees or contractors?

This single question tells you more than any brochure. When caregivers are employees, the agency is responsible for training, supervision, payroll deductions and workplace protections. When they are gig contractors, much of that responsibility quietly shifts onto you. The Canada Revenue Agency says employment status depends on the real working relationship, not the label in a contract. And under CRA rules for placement agencies, when an agency places and pays a worker under conditions that look like employment, the agency is treated as the employer that must deduct CPP and EI.

KapwaCare’s answer: every caregiver is an employee, never a gig contractor. Trained, insured and supervised, with a coordinator who stays involved.

2. Who covers a caregiver who gets hurt in our home?

In Alberta, workers’ compensation coverage is required by law for most industries. An agency that employs its caregivers carries that responsibility. But WCB Alberta cautions that when you hire a contractor who has no coverage of their own, you may become responsible for covering them. That is not something you want to learn about after a fall on your parent’s icy front steps.

KapwaCare’s answer: caregivers are insured employees, so employer responsibilities sit with the agency, not with your family.

3. How do you screen caregivers, and can you show proof of insurance?

Ask about criminal record checks, references and training, and ask to see proof of liability insurance and bonding. In Alberta this is more than good manners: providers registered for the Client Directed Home Care Invoicing (CDHCI) program must maintain clear criminal record checks for employees and keep insurance coverage, with proof available on request.

KapwaCare’s answer: KapwaCare is a registered CDHCI provider, which holds providers to those standards, and its caregivers are trained, insured employees.

4. Will we see the same caregiver at every visit?

Consistency is comfort, especially for someone living with dementia. A familiar face knows how your dad takes his coffee and what calms him when the day goes sideways. Ask how the agency matches caregivers, whether you meet the caregiver before care begins, and what happens if the fit is not right.

KapwaCare’s answer: you meet your caregiver before care ever starts, and the aim is a consistent match, whether care is for a senior or a younger adult with a disability.

5. What happens when our caregiver is sick or on holiday?

Life happens. What matters is whether the agency has a plan or leaves you scrambling. Ask who arranges backup coverage, how quickly, and who tells you.

KapwaCare’s answer: you have a reachable coordinator whose job includes exactly this, so schedule changes go through one person you already know.

6. Will the care plan be in writing, and who approves it?

A real care plan starts with an in-home visit, covers specific tasks from the agency’s list of services, and gets your family’s approval before anyone starts. It should also change when your parent’s needs change. For medical questions, always talk to your doctor or AHS case manager, since agencies like KapwaCare provide non-medical care.

KapwaCare’s answer: a free assessment at home, then a written care plan you approve before care begins, with ongoing coordinator support as needs shift.

7. What are your rates, and what is not included?

Ask for rates in writing, including minimum visit lengths, evening and weekend differences, cancellation rules and any extra fees. Surprises on an invoice erode trust fast.

KapwaCare’s answer: plain rates explained before care starts, with no sign-up fees. See costs and funding for how pricing works.

8. How does billing work if we have publicly funded hours?

If an AHS case manager has approved home care hours for your parent, ask whether the agency is registered for CDHCI. Registered providers bill Alberta Blue Cross directly and are reimbursed up to the monthly hours AHS has authorized, so for approved hours the invoice goes to Alberta Blue Cross, not to you. Those CDHCI hours can only be used with registered providers. Ask too whether the program fully covers the agency’s rate or whether any difference falls to you. Our guide on how CDHCI works walks through the whole program, and you can call Health Link at 811 to be connected with a home care office.

KapwaCare’s answer: registered for CDHCI and bills Alberta Blue Cross directly, so AHS-approved hours can be $0 out of pocket. Private pay covers anything beyond them.

9. Can you match our language and culture?

Personal care is intimate. Bathing, meals and long afternoons feel safer in the language your Lola (grandmother) is most at home in. This matters enough that the CDHCI provider directory lists the languages each agency supports. Ask which languages caregivers actually speak, not just which ones the website mentions.

KapwaCare’s answer: care in English and Tagalog, from a Filipino-Canadian team guided by kapwa (kuh-PWA), the value that you and I are one. There is more in what kapwa means to us.

10. What are the contract and exit terms?

You should never feel trapped. Ask about notice periods, cancellation fees and minimum commitments before you sign anything. Under CDHCI, clients can change providers at any time, and a private-pay agreement should feel just as free.

KapwaCare’s answer: no sign-up fees and no long-term contracts. Families stay because the care is good, not because paperwork says they must.

Bring this list with you

Still weighing whether it is time? Our guide to the signs it may be time for home care can help you think it through. And when you start making calls, we would be honoured to be one of them. Phone (403) 830-9600 and we will call you back within the hour, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Saturday. The assessment is free, it happens in your parent’s home, and every question on this page is welcome.