Family and Caregiver Supports

For the people doing the caring — spouses, parents, adult children, and anyone else supporting someone with a disability or serious illness.

Verified 2026-10-03 against official sources, linked throughout. Not legal advice. Caregiving is unpaid work that people rarely claim support for.

EI Caregiving Benefits — Canada-wide

Service Canada pays three separate benefits. All are 55% of earnings, maximum $729/week (2026).

Benefit	Maximum weeks	For
EI Family Support Benefit	up to 35 weeks	Children
EI Adult Support	up to 15 weeks	A spouse or adult dependent
Compassionate Care Benefit	up to 26 weeks	A family member who is seriously ill or dying

Two access facts people often miss:

You do not need to be related to the person you are caring for, and you do not need to live with them.
For the Compassionate Care Benefit, a chronic condition alone does not qualify — it requires a new acute life-threatening change, or an existing condition that has sharply worsened.

Apply through My Service Canada Account or a Service Canada office. You will need a medical certificate for the person you are caring for.

Appeal: reconsideration within 30 days (form INS5210), no fee. ⚠️ Since 1 April 2026, EI appeals go to the EI Benefits Appeal Tribunal (BOA), not the Social Security Tribunal.

EI compassionate care

The Canada Caregiver Credit — Canada-wide

A federal tax credit, not an income replacement.

$2,687 base.
Up to $8,601 for a spouse or common-law partner, or an adult dependant.
$2,687 per child.
“Dependent” means someone who regularly and consistently relies on you for food, shelter or clothing.

Claim it on your tax return.

VAC Caregiver Recognition Benefit — veterans’ families

$1,264.25/month, tax-free, to the unpaid family caregiver of a qualifying veteran.
⚠️ Eligibility trap: this is for veterans receiving a Disability Award or Pain and Suffering Compensation. Veterans who receive the Disability Pension get the Attendance Allowance instead. Check which benefit the veteran actually receives.

Respite and breaks in Ontario

Respite is care for the person you care for, so that you can rest. It is far under-used.

In your home: fully covered if approved.
Long-term care short stay: maximum 60 days per stay, 90 days per calendar year. ⚠️ Only accommodation costs are paid — you may have to cover other costs.
Adult day programs: available through an Ontario Health atHome referral, usually with a daily fee.

Start with Ontario Health atHome — an assessment opens the respite options.

Powers of attorney in Ontario — two traps

⚠️ Land registry rejects powers of attorney containing personal information. Do not attach ID copies, bank account numbers, passports or birth certificates. A POA containing personal information can be refused at land registration.
A property attorney can act immediately unless you write an incapacity trigger into the document. Decide which you want — it changes when the document takes effect.

Ontario also recognises continuing power of attorney and springing power of attorney. A court-appointed guardian/trustee/committee, a protection mandate, or a continuing/springing POA can act as a legal representative on benefit applications — but an authorized person cannot apply, change banking, or request a formal reconsideration.

Caregiving combined with your own disability

If you are both a caregiver and a person with a disability, these are separate claims:

Your own disability support: see non-work disability programs — the Canada Disability Benefit does not reduce Ontario social assistance.
Caregiving support: EI Family Support / Compassionate Care, or the VAC Caregiver Recognition Benefit.
Your own retirement income: see seniors and elders supports.

One thing that does NOT exist

⚠️ There is no “CPP family caregiver benefit.” No such federal program exists — canada.ca and Service Canada have no such benefit. Federal caregiver income replacement is EI only. Some commercial pages claim a CPP caregiver benefit exists; that is misinformation.

If you saw it elsewhere, this is worth knowing: people lose real money planning around a benefit that was never created.

Start here

Are you caring for a child, an adult, or someone seriously ill? → EI Family Support (35 weeks), Adult Support (15 weeks), or Compassionate Care (26 weeks).
Do you need a break? → Ask Ontario Health atHome about respite.
Do you have legal authority for someone? → Ontario POA, and check the land registry trap above.
Are you a veteran’s family? → Check whether they receive Disability Award/Pain and Suffering (you may get Caregiver Recognition) or Disability Pension (Attendance Allowance instead).

Sources

All figures verified 2026-10-03. Program rules change — confirm before acting.