‘Families are quietly holding together the country's health care system’

Each month at BPM, we offer a slate of articles and content pieces that go deep on a particular topic. This December, we’re exploring employee and plan members' well-being - and its link to mental health. 

Caregivers are feeling abandoned by the very benefits meant to protect them, according to a recent survey by Maple.

Findings from the report found that more than 7.8 million caregivers provide 5.7 billion hours of care valued at over $97 billion, while only 15 per cent say the system consistently meets their needs.

Maple’s Amii Stephenson highlighted the daily realities behind those numbers: caregivers juggle appointment coordination, long specialist waits, medication management, and constant advocacy for loved ones, which drives significant personal strain. Many delay their own care and mental health needs, and more than a quarter report lost wages due to these responsibilities.

“The biggest takeaway is that families are really quietly holding together the country's health care system,” said Stephenson, VP of sales at Maple, adding that “caregiving has very much become the unspoken backbone of Canadian health care.”

Additional findings found that 67 per cert of those in the sandwich generation - who care for both children and aging relatives - are concerned about the impact on their career progression. Sixty per cent of caregivers delay their own care to prioritize that of their dependents while 63 per cent say caregiving has negatively impacted their mental health and 88 per cent of caregivers with children feel that emergency rooms are being used for issues that could be managed equally well through virtual care.

Yet, Stephenson frames the situation as a solvable gap rather than an ultimate failure, arguing that employers have a clear opening to modernize benefits so they actually improve access to care. She acknowledged that while a majority of caregivers feel generally supported at work, many still can’t get timely, convenient care through their plans, and support falls further for those caring for aging parents compared with those caring for children.

“Fifty eight per cent of caregivers do say that their employer supports them,” noted Stephenson, yet nearly half say their benefits don’t actually improve access, and only 51 per cent of those caring for elderly loved ones feel supported versus 65 per cent caring for children.

Stephenson argues that benefits only help caregivers when they directly remove friction from how care happens day to day like speeding access, cutting coordination time, and protecting income. After all, 70 per cent of caregiver respondents want shorter wait times, 67 per cent want better access to specialists, and 87 per cent want tech-enabled care that saves time.

According to Stephenson, caregivers often feel unsupported because many benefit plans don’t translate into practical access to care. The persistent barriers are the same ones caregivers face without coverage: long wait times, difficulty getting to “that next level of care,” and income hits from lost wages due to travel and appointment logistics. Plans also push people to rely on leave buckets because they were built for “traditional schedules that nine to five,” which doesn’t align with modern care demands, noted Stephenson.

“Benefits can be transformative, but only if they really reflect how families live and work and care today,” she said. “Caregivers don't feel supported when benefits don't translate into real access. And even with benefits, many caregivers still feel face very similar obstacles. If benefits can't save caregivers time or stress or wages, then they don't really solve the problem that caregivers are experiencing.”

She notes this strain is especially acute for those supporting aging parents; a sizable share of fifty-five per cent say that their benefits don’t make accessing care easier, which can be a signal that the current approach isn’t working for a large segment of the workforce.  

Stephenson suggests retooling benefits to remove friction rather than adding more coverage that is hard to use as caregivers are notably asking for solutions that reduce logistical barriers, so they don’t have to take as much time off work, spend fewer hours coordinating appointments, and can move through faster pathways to care.

In terms of how employers can turn the findings into solutions or strategy, Stephenson suggests employers to build “modern, connected” benefits that streamline the care journey, pointing to virtual access to healthcare supports, faster referrals, and tools that cut administrative drag, so caregivers can reclaim time and control over their well-being.

Dedicated PTO leave for caregivers

To that end, Stephenson also believes that “there’s a really compelling case for dedicated caregiver leave” so employees aren’t forced to drain rest and sick time to support loved ones, which drives stress, burnout, and preventable turnover. The core problem is structural: caregivers are relying on existing leave buckets to meet ongoing care demands, and that trade-off erodes their health, income stability, and long‑term attachment to work.

She pointed to the data to make her case, noting that caregivers are already substituting vacation and sick time for care, with 60 per cent using vacation days and 63 per cent using sick days for caregiving; among caregivers with children, that rises to 74 per cent of sick days. Those patterns contribute directly to higher strain and “33 per cent of caregivers” reporting burnout.

She believes that caregiving is essential labour that keeps households functioning and the broader system afloat, and policy should reflect that reality rather than pushing the costs onto employees.

Ultimately, she underscored a caregiver‑specific PTO category would protect limited rest time, reduce burnout risk, and keep people healthy, employed, and supported by aligning leave with the actual demands of modern caregiving.

“Caregiving isn’t really considered time off. It’s essential work,” said Stephenson. “There's such a big opportunity for Canadian employers to really look at our system with new eyes and a modern approach to reflect the needs of their current demographic. There's a way for them to differentiate themselves from other employers by meeting that need and offering flexible and modern benefits to their teams.”