A cleaning service cleans the house and leaves. A home helper handles the household and pays attention to the person — noticing changes in appetite, mobility, mood or safety, and reporting them to the family. Our caregivers are vetted, insured, bonded, police-checked and trained in senior care, which a general cleaning company is not.

We don't do deep cleaning or restoration work, heavy lifting or furniture moving, exterior windows or anything requiring a ladder, snow removal or yard work, pet waste beyond basic feeding, or hoarding cleanups. If your parent needs one of those, tell us and we'll point you to a service that does it properly.

Private home help is priced hourly, and the total depends on how many hours per week and what's included. Subsidized community programs charge considerably less on a sliding scale but come with waitlists and limited hours. We give you a transparent, itemized quote after the free consultation, with no hidden fees and no minimum contract.

Not by OHIP directly. Some households qualify for publicly funded home support hours through Ontario Health at Home, though these usually prioritize personal care over household tasks. Subsidized home help programs run by VON and Ottawa community health centres are available to seniors 60+ and adults with physical disabilities on a sliding-scale fee. Canadian veterans may qualify for funded housekeeping through the Veterans Independence Program. We'll help you figure out what applies.

Three or four hours a week is a common starting point, often on a single weekly visit covering housekeeping, laundry, and a grocery run. Families frequently add a second visit later or extend hours after a hospital stay. We'd rather start you low and increase than sell you hours you don't use.

Yes — that is the point. We match on skills, personality and language, then keep that caregiver assigned. Consistency is why we became a Champion Level Living Wage Employer: fairly paid caregivers stay, and caregivers who stay are the ones who know how your parent likes things done.

Yes. We provide bilingual caregivers across Ottawa, Vanier, and Orléans.

Yes, and we can adapt to your needs as necessary. Home help often starts as household support and expands to include personal care — bathing, dressing, mobility — as needs change. Freiheit Care offers the full continuum, including RN-led nursing care, so you don't have to change agencies when the situation changes.

This is very common, and usually about control rather than the caregiver. We start small — a short weekly visit framed around one specific task your parent has already admitted is a nuisance, like the laundry or making the bed. Once the relationship exists, the rest follows. Introducing help before there's a crisis is far easier than after.

Ottawa city-wide, including Kanata, Nepean, Barrhaven, Orléans, Vanier, Stittsville, Gloucester, Manotick and the Glebe, plus Kemptville and Arnprior and Aylmer.

Usually within a few days of the free consultation. There's no waitlist for private home help. If you're working to a hospital discharge date or another deadline, tell us and we'll work to it.