Home Care Marketing in Ottawa: How Agencies Get More Clients (2026)

How public home care works in Ontario, and where the gap is

In Ontario, publicly funded home care is coordinated by Ontario Health atHome. A care coordinator assesses the person and arranges services such as personal support worker (PSW) visits and nursing. Families in Ottawa often find those hours don't cover everything: evenings, weekends, longer visits, companionship or overnight support.

Private agencies fill that gap. The most useful message you can give a Ottawa family is simple: keep your Ontario Health atHome services, and add private hours around them from one agency that will coordinate with the existing schedule.

Referral sources that matter in Ottawa

Families rarely find an agency cold. Someone points them to you, usually during a stressful week.

• Ontario Health atHome care coordinators, who see families whose needs exceed funded hours
• Discharge planners and social workers at local hospitals
• Retirement homes, where residents often buy extra personal support
• Family physicians, family health teams and pharmacies
• Veterans' organisations and Royal Canadian Legion branches, where families ask about Veterans Affairs Canada support
• Estate lawyers, financial planners and accountants who advise adult children

What Ottawa families search for

Ottawa families search for home care Ottawa, PSW services, soins à domicile, respite care, dementia care at home and their own community name, such as Kanata, Orléans, Nepean or Barrhaven. Ottawa is a bilingual city: if your team can serve families in French, say so on a French-language page as well as in English, and only promise it where you can staff it every time. Many Ottawa families include retired public servants and veterans, so explain how Veterans Affairs Canada benefits and private insurance can sit alongside private hours, without promising eligibility.

Keep your Google Business Profile accurate, list the communities you really serve and reply to every review. Families check reviews before they call.

Paid channels and follow-up

Search ads should lead to a page that explains how private PSW hours work alongside Ontario Health atHome, shows how pricing works in CAD and has a phone number answered at all hours. Meta ads can reach adult children who are not yet searching. Measure by booked assessments.

Answer within minutes and follow up the same day. Following up on a family's own enquiry is generally fine under CASL. If you handle personal health information, Ontario's Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) may apply, so confirm your obligations with a lawyer.

Also serving

• Kanata: West Ottawa; many families there look for help with a parent living nearby.
• Orléans: East Ottawa, with a large francophone community; highlight French-language service if you offer it.
• Barrhaven: South-west Ottawa; state realistic start times for new clients.