How to Start a Home Care Agency in Alberta
How to start a home care agency in Alberta: no agency licence to chase, the CDHCI provider route that pays through Alberta Blue Cross, insurance minimums, and hiring HCAs.
How to Start a Home Care Agency in Canada
The national home care agency licensing map for Canada: who regulates agencies province by province, the agency vs independent-provider line, and the federal steps.
Applies in: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador
Most people who search for a home care agency licence in Canada expect a health department, an application form, and a fee. What they find instead is a map. No federal licence exists. No province in this guide sells a licence with "home care agency" on it for private in-home services. Regulation attaches to the pieces around the agency: how you employ people, where the care happens, who pays, and whether the worker is a regulated professional.
This page is that map. If you are starting in Ontario, keep going with how to start a home care business in Ontario after this one. That guide keeps the Ontario start-up steps in order, including the Temporary Help Agency licence file. This guide covers the licensing question across provinces so you can see where your province sits before you copy another province's checklist.
The split that explains everything
Three lines decide almost every licensing question in Canadian home care:
- Agency or independent? An agency employs caregivers and assigns them to clients. That employment relationship is what triggers payroll accounts, workers' compensation, and, in Ontario, agency licensing. An independent provider contracting directly with a family sits outside most of that, and pushes employer duties toward the client.
- In the client's home, or in your residence? Visiting a client's home to provide care is lightly licensed almost everywhere. Providing care to people who live in a building you operate is facility care, and facility care is licensed: community care licences and assisted living registration in British Columbia, retirement home licensing in Ontario, and continuing care rules in Alberta all live on this side of the line.
- Private pay or publicly funded? A family paying you directly signs a private contract. Public money comes with a gatekeeper: prequalification, vendor registration, or a health authority contract, plus audits that private work never sees.
Province by province
Ontario. There is no health licence for a home care agency. The licence that matters is a labour licence: since the licensing regime took effect in July 2024, a business that employs workers and assigns them to clients generally needs a Temporary Help Agency licence under the Employment Standards Act. It costs $750 to apply, $750 a year to renew, and requires $25,000 in security, usually a letter of credit or surety bond. Operating without a required licence carries fines of $15,000, $25,000, and $50,000 for successive offences. Publicly funded home care flows through Ontario Health atHome, which buys from prequalified Service Provider Organizations. The full Ontario sequence is in our Ontario home care business guide.
British Columbia. In-home visiting services are not licensed as agencies. The licensing in this province attaches to places. Under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, a person providing residential care to three or more adults who are not related to them must be licensed, and facilities providing care and supervision to three or more persons need a community care licence whether the care is publicly funded or privately paid. Assisted living residences register with the Assisted Living Registrar, and an operator who provides more than two services at the prescribed level needs a community care licence instead of registration. For the workforce, British Columbia adds two checks: the Criminal Records Review Program for people working with vulnerable adults, and the BC Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry for health care assistants in publicly funded care. Public home support is arranged through the regional health authorities.
Alberta. Private home care agencies register as businesses and operate without a dedicated provincial agency licence. The regulated layers sit beside the agency. Facility-based continuing care falls under Alberta's continuing care legislation and standards. For publicly funded care at home, the Client Directed Home Care Invoicing program lets an eligible client choose their own agency from the Alberta Blue Cross registered vendor list; the agency bills Alberta Blue Cross directly for the hours a case manager authorized. Home care itself has been moving from Alberta Health Services to Assisted Living Alberta in the province's health system restructuring, so confirm which body holds your file when you apply. Workers' compensation registration is through WCB Alberta.
Quebec. Public home care is coordinated through the local community service centres, the CLSCs, inside the provincial health network. A private agency works as a business under Quebec's enterprise registration, with the Registraire des entreprises and a Quebec enterprise number, and sells privately or subcontracts into the public network. Caregivers' titles and nursing acts remain regulated by their professional orders.
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. No dedicated home care agency licence for private in-home services was found in these provinces' published rules. The working stack is provincial business registration, a municipal business licence where the city requires one, workers' compensation registration on hiring (WCB Saskatchewan, WCB Manitoba, WorkSafeNB, WCB Nova Scotia, Workers Compensation Board of Prince Edward Island, WorkplaceNL), vulnerable sector screening for caregivers, and health authority contracts if you want publicly funded work. Because these provinces publish less agency-specific guidance, run your exact model through BizPaL, the federal-provincial permit finder, and keep the printout in your compliance file.
The federal layer: business number, payroll, and taxes
Whatever province you land in, the CRA steps are the same:
- Business number. Free, nine digits, issued by the CRA. Every program account hangs off it.
- Payroll account. Open the RP program account before your first employee's first pay. From that point you withhold and remit income tax, Canada Pension Plan contributions, and Employment Insurance premiums on the CRA's schedule. Hiring caregivers as "contractors" to skip this does not survive a status review if you set their schedules, assign their clients, and direct their work.
- GST/HST. Register when taxable revenues pass $30,000 in four consecutive quarters, or voluntarily before that. Sort which services are taxable first: an agency's homemaking and companionship lines are commonly taxable while some regulated health services are exempt, and the mix decides your filing.
- Records. Payroll records, caregiver screening files, and client service agreements are the documents every regulator, insurer, and public funder asks for first. Build the filing habits at client one, not client fifty.
Our business number guide and GST/HST registration guide cover those two accounts step by step.
Staffing rules that follow the agency everywhere
The workers bring their own regulation with them. Registered nurses, registered practical nurses, and licensed practical nurses practise under their provincial regulator and a protected title; verify registration for every regulated hire, every renewal cycle. Personal support workers in Ontario and health care aides in Alberta and British Columbia are unregulated as occupations, which shifts the burden to you: the certificate (the 700-hour NACC standard is the Ontario market benchmark), the vulnerable sector check, references, and supervised first visits are your quality system, because no regulator runs one for you. Agencies that cut this corner discover that families, insurers, and public funders all ask the same questions.
Where to start
Pick the province, pick the model (agency, not independent), and pick the payer (private first, for most new agencies). Then work the list: register the business, open the CRA accounts, register with workers' compensation, line up insurance, build the screening file, and add your province's layer from the table above before your first client visit. In Ontario that layer is the Temporary Help Agency licence, and it takes long enough that it belongs at the front of the queue, not the back.
Related guides
- How to Start a Home Care Business in Ontario — the Ontario start-up steps this map points to: the THA licence and $25,000 security, hiring PSWs, insurance, and Ontario Health atHome contracts.
- How to Become a PSW in Ontario — the workforce your agency will hire: the 700-hour certificate and the voluntary registry.
- How to Become an LPN in Alberta — the regulated nursing route, for agencies adding nursing visits.
- How to Get a Business Number in Canada — the federal root account behind payroll and GST/HST.
Who regulates a home care agency, by province
| Ontario — agency staffing model | Temporary Help Agency licence: $750 + $25,000 security |
|---|---|
| Ontario — health licence for in-home agency services | None |
| British Columbia — care in a facility or residence (3+ persons) | Community care licence under the CCALA |
| British Columbia — assisted living residence | Registration with the Assisted Living Registrar |
| Alberta — publicly funded client-directed home care | Alberta Blue Cross CDHCI vendor registration |
| Most other provinces — private in-home agency | No dedicated agency licence; business + municipal + WCB rules |
Compiled from provincial sources listed below, checked October 2026. This is a map, not a ruling on your business: confirm your exact model with your province and on BizPaL before you trade.
The federal and shared steps, in order
- Register the business in your provinceSole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation. Care businesses carry real liability, so most agencies weigh incorporation seriously
- Get the CRA business number and payroll accountThe nine-digit business number is free from the CRA. Open the payroll program account (the RP account) before the first pay run so income tax, CPP, and EI remittances have a home
- Sort GST/HST by service lineClassify which of your services are taxable and which are exempt with an accountant, then register when the $30,000 threshold requires it, or earlier if voluntary registration pays
- Register with workers' compensation and hire to standardProvincial board registration when you hire (WSIB in Ontario, WorkSafeBC, WCB Alberta), vulnerable sector checks for every caregiver, credential and registration checks for regulated staff
- Add your province's layerOntario's Temporary Help Agency licence, public-system vendor or contract registration if you want funded clients, and facility licensing the moment care happens in a residence you operate
Questions people ask
Do you need a licence to start a home care agency in Canada?
There is no Canadian home care agency licence, and in most provinces there is no dedicated provincial home care licence for a private, non-medical agency either. What you need instead is a stack: business registration, a municipal business licence where your city requires one, workers' compensation registration once you hire, and the specific licence your province attaches to your model. Ontario is the big exception in practice: an agency that employs caregivers and assigns them to clients generally needs a Temporary Help Agency licence under the Employment Standards Act, with a $750 application fee and a $25,000 security deposit. Facility licences are a different matter: the moment you provide care in a residence you operate, residential and assisted living licensing can apply.
What are the home care business requirements in Canada?
The nationwide core is: choose a structure and register the business, get a CRA business number and open a payroll program account before your first hire, register for GST/HST once you pass the $30,000 small-supplier threshold (or earlier, voluntarily), register with your provincial workers' compensation board when you hire, carry liability and professional insurance, and screen every caregiver with a police check that includes a vulnerable sector check. On top of that core, each province adds its own layer: Ontario's Temporary Help Agency licence for agencies, British Columbia's Criminal Records Review Program checks for people working with vulnerable adults, and public-system vendor or contract rules if you want publicly funded clients.
What home care business licences exist province by province?
No province in this guide issues a licence simply called a home care agency licence for private in-home services. Ontario attaches its Temporary Help Agency licence to the agency staffing model. British Columbia licences community care facilities and registers assisted living residences under the Community Care and Assisted Living Act, which covers care in facilities and residences, not visits to a client's own home, and it runs a separate BC Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry for health care assistants in publicly funded settings. Alberta regulates facility-based continuing care under its continuing care framework and runs the Client Directed Home Care Invoicing program through Alberta Blue Cross, where public clients choose from registered vendors. In the other provinces, private agencies generally operate on business registration, municipal licensing, workers' compensation, and screening rules rather than a health-agency licence. Read the province table in this guide and confirm your model on BizPaL before you trade.
What is the difference between a home care agency and an independent provider?
An agency employs (or engages) caregivers, assigns them to clients, sets the schedule, handles payroll and remittances, carries the insurance, and answers for backup when a caregiver calls in sick. The client contracts with the agency. An independent provider is a self-employed caregiver who contracts with the client directly: the client becomes the one directing the work, and in some arrangements can be treated as the employer for payroll and workers' compensation purposes. The agency model carries more fixed compliance — payroll accounts, workers' compensation, and in Ontario the Temporary Help Agency licence — and charges more per hour for it. The independent model is cheaper to start and puts the compliance on the client.
Can a home care agency provide nursing services?
Only through regulated professionals. Nursing is a regulated health profession in every province: registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and registered practical nurses must hold current registration with their provincial nursing regulator, and unregulated care providers cannot perform controlled or restricted nursing acts. An agency can sell nursing visits if the people doing them are registered and the work sits inside their scope. An agency staffed by personal support workers and health care aides sells personal support and homemaking, not nursing, no matter what the brochure says.
How do home care agencies get publicly funded clients?
Through the provincial public system, and each province runs its own door. In Ontario, Ontario Health atHome buys services from prequalified Service Provider Organizations. In Alberta, the Client Directed Home Care Invoicing program lets eligible clients pick an agency from the Alberta Blue Cross registered vendor list, and the agency bills Alberta Blue Cross directly for authorized hours. In British Columbia, home support for publicly funded clients flows through the regional health authorities. Private-pay clients need none of this: they sign with you directly. Most new agencies start private-pay and add public contracts once their compliance file can survive due diligence.
Does a home care agency need to register for GST/HST?
It depends on what you sell. Many health care services delivered by regulated professionals are exempt, while homemaking, companionship, and many personal support services sold by an agency are taxable supplies. The registration rule itself is the standard one: you must register once your taxable revenues pass $30,000 over four consecutive calendar quarters, and you may register voluntarily before that to claim input tax credits. Because the exempt-versus-taxable line runs through the middle of a typical agency's service list, get an accountant to classify your services before your first invoice.
What checks do agency caregivers need?
A police information or criminal record check with a vulnerable sector check is the working standard across Canada for people entering the homes of vulnerable clients. British Columbia adds a provincial layer: the Criminal Records Review Program reviews people who work with children or vulnerable adults for employers in regulated settings. On top of the check itself, agencies verify credentials directly — a personal support worker certificate in Ontario, health care aide status in Alberta or British Columbia — and verify nursing registration with the provincial regulator for any regulated hire.
Sources
- Ontario Ministry of Labour, Temporary Help Agency licensing under the Employment Standards Act, and our Ontario home care guide (checked October 2026) — $750 application and renewal, $25,000 security, fines of $15,000/$25,000/$50,000, regime in effect July 2024, Ontario Health atHome Service Provider Organization prequalification
- Government of British Columbia, Community Care and Assisted Living Act and residential care facility pages (gov.bc.ca and bclaws.gov.bc.ca) — care to three or more persons requires licensing, assisted living registration, and the prescribed-services limit that pushes operators with more than two prescribed services to a community care licence
- Vancouver Coastal Health and BC provincial pages on the Criminal Records Review Program and the BC Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry — screening and registry layers for publicly funded care
- Alberta Blue Cross, Client Directed Home Care Invoicing program, and Alberta continuing care pages (checked October 2026) — eligible clients choose from the registered vendor list and agencies bill Alberta Blue Cross for authorized hours; home care moving from Alberta Health Services to Assisted Living Alberta
- ComForCare Canada and ShiftCare Canada, starting a home care business in Canada (checked October 2026) — no specialized provincial home care licence for non-medical agencies in most provinces, municipal business licence and BizPaL checks, provincial registration and workers' compensation steps by province
- Canada Revenue Agency, business number and payroll program account guidance (canada.ca) — free nine-digit business number, RP payroll account, and the $30,000 GST/HST small-supplier threshold