The Caregiver’s Handbook (2025) - 4th edition

We know how difficult it can be to find the right information and support, especially at the beginning of the caregiving journey. That’s why we created the Caregiver's Handbook: to bring helpful resources together in one place and make navigating a little easier.

The Caregiver’s Handbook is designed to support you every step of the way - from those first questions (Do I want to be a caregiver? Who are my partners in care?) to getting organized and managing daily responsibilities like medications, meal planning, hospital and crisis preparation, legal or financial matters - all while remembering to care for yourself, too.

This Handbook was created with the help of many dedicated people over the years. It all started with The Healthy Balance Research Program (HBRP) - a project that examined how women’s unpaid caregiving impacted their health and wellbeing. Over five years, the project brought together university researchers, policy makers, community organizations and caregivers. Caregivers shared their struggles in finding the right programs, services and information to support their work. In response to these challenges, the first edition of this Handbook was created in 2007.

This fourth edition of The Caregiver's Handbook reflects the valuable feedback of caregivers, our team (many of whom have been caregivers themselves), and our community partners. This latest edition was made possible through funding from the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation.

We hope this Handbook will help make your caregiving journey a little easier and maybe a little more rewarding. Inside, you’ll find even more useful tools, tips and resources to support you, the caregiver.

Click here to download the digital version for free. You can navigate through the sections by clicking on links in the Contents. To come back to Contents, click on any page number.

You can find blank templates, charts, checklists and plans can here.

If you are a caregiver, we'd be happy to send you a physical copy - just get in touch to request one.
If you work in healthcare or community supports and you would like to have multiple copies, please give us a call.

Guide de la personne aidante (2022)

Nous avons d'autres resources en français.  

Cliquez sur l'onglet "français" dans le haut de la page.