A cross-border analysis comparing prime-age adults to seniors 75 and older finds Canada has 2.86 potential caregivers per senior versus 3.53 in the U.S., with six provinces below every U.S. state.
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A cross-border analysis released this year finds Canada has fewer prime-age potential family caregivers per senior than the United States, and that six Canadian provinces rank below every U.S. state on the same measure.
The analysis, which uses census, labour force and care-capacity data from both countries, calculates a ratio of adults aged 45 to 64 per person aged 75 and older. Canada’s figure is 2.86, compared with 3.53 in the U.S.
Provincially, six of Canada’s 10 provinces—Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia—fall below every U.S. state on the ratio. Hawaii is identified as the lowest U.S. state at 2.68, while those six provinces range from 2.58 in Nova Scotia to 2.67 in British Columbia.
The analysis reports that Nova Scotia has the thinnest family caregiver pool at 2.58 adults aged 45 to 64 per person 75 and older, pairing that with Canada’s highest share of seniors with a severe or very severe disability at 26.1%.
It also highlights that the caregiver pool is increasingly constrained by employment patterns and available time. Among adults aged 45 to 64, 77.6% of Canadians are in the labour force, compared with 74.2% in the U.S.
Using U.S. time-use data, the analysis says employed caregivers averaged 2.62 hours of care on days they provided it, compared with 5.02 hours among caregivers who were not employed.
The report also contrasts institutional care capacity. It says Canada’s publicly funded long-term care bed rate for seniors 75 and older fell from 66.6 per 1,000 in 2021 to 63.5 in 2025. The comparable U.S. rate is reported as 66.6 per 1,000 today.
The analysis notes that the two countries count beds differently—U.S. figures track Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing facility beds while Canada counts publicly funded long-term care beds—but says the direction of change is the focus.
While the report frames the gap as shared across both countries, it says the Canadian trajectory has moved faster. It also points to related pressure points, including that roughly one in four seniors in Canada’s private households lives alone, with Quebec at 30.9% as the highest provincial rate reported.
The analysis further says Statistics Canada counts 1.8 million caregivers in Canada who are described as “sandwiched” between children and care-dependent adults, and that among surveyed caregivers 86% reported at least one negative impact on their physical health and well-being.
It concludes that the caregiver shortage pressures families by reducing the number of adults available in the prime caregiving age range, while demand increases as more people age into the 75-plus group.
The report’s index is described as combining five factors: the share of seniors 65 and over living alone, the share needing help with daily living, the number of adults aged 45 to 64 per person 75 and older, labour force participation among those adults, and long-term care beds per 1,000 seniors 75 and over. It says the ratio is demographic, measuring potential family caregivers rather than an estimate of how many provide care.
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