About Us

Our organization

Care Watch is a non-profit volunteer advocacy organization. Older adults lead Care Watch, and  most of our board members are age 60 years or older. We have no political affiliation, but work with decision makers of all stripes to promote home and community services for older Ontarians. These services enable them to stay in their homes and communities safely and productively.

Our purpose

We advocate for high quality, affordable, and equitable home and community services for Ontario’s older adults.

We monitor and analyze policy, advise decision makers, and hold officials accountable. Our goal is to build a system that supports dignified ageing and keeps Ontarians safe in their homes and communities.

We advocate for:

  • A system that is simple for clients, caregivers, and providers to access
  • Secure funding for home and community care
  • Services led by community-based non-profit providers
  • Wages, benefits, and working conditions that recognize the value of home and community care workers
  • An end to ageism

What we believe

Universal publicly funded health care is part of Canada. Health care systems change, but values shouldn’t. We must keep the values of our universal public health care system.

Public health care is about taking care of each other. We share the cost of care and pay for it through our taxes. The sick, the elderly, and the dying shouldn’t have to bear the burdens alone.

Home care and community supports are vital. Our decisions and public investments should treat them as vital.

Older adults have the right to make their own choices, have a say in decisions that affect them, and receive the services they need and want.

How we work

We have no political affiliation. Our goal is equitable, accessible home and community care, and we work with decision makers and politicians of all stripes to promote it.

We inform and engage our audiences, influence policies, and keep track of issues. We communicate with the Care Watch community, politicians, decision makers, media, and the public.

Volunteers run Care Watch, and older adults lead it. We are incorporated as a not-for-profit advocacy organization, so we do not have charitable status.

A founding member’s legacy and some individual donations supplement our volunteer activities. We sometimes receive funding for specific projects. Funding agencies have included the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Status of Women Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

How we advocate 

We advocate for public policies and practices that affect home care and community supports for older adults across Ontario. 

Care Watch does not provide information or recommendations about specific services or providers. If you are looking for information about services, you can consult with the Ontario Community Support Association (OCSA). OCSA includes more than 25 different health and wellness services province-wide. These services help Ontarians live independently in their own home for as long as possible.

We do not give advice about individual cases or concerns. If you are looking for this information or assistance, the following organizations may be helpful:

  • Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE) – a community-based legal clinic for older adults with low incomes.
  • Ontario Ombudsman – a provincial agency that promotes fairness, accountability, and transparency in the public sector by investigating public complaints and systemic issues.
  • Patient Ombudsman – a provincial agency that works to resolve individual complaints about health care organizations and services, including hospitals and nursing homes
  • Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) – a provincial agency that promotes fairness, accountability, and transparency in the public sector by investigating public complaints and systemic issues.