February 20, 2026
Understanding the Unique Challenges of Marginalized Caregivers in Canada
It’s estimated that 28% of Canadians currently provide unpaid care for loved ones, and this figure is expected to increase as Canada’s population ages. Caregiving affects millions of people across the country, but not all caregivers face the same challenges. Caregivers in Canada who don’t have a lot of support often have to deal with extra challenges on top of the difficulties of their role. This blog will explore the major challenges marginalized caregivers face, while thinking about ways to make things easier for them as they navigate an already challenging position.
The Hidden Burden
In October 2023, the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation put on three virtual roundtable discussions. These conversations brought together caregiving experts, researchers, caregivers with personal experience, and executives from Canadian caregiving organizations. Participants came from many different racial, ethnic, and gender communities, including disabled individuals. They worked to understand the barriers that marginalized caregivers face.
The findings were clear. Family caregivers from marginalized communities face an extra burden from systemic inequalities and historical injustices. These challenges get more difficult because of identity markers like race, gender, and socioeconomic status, which make their caregiving experiences complex and frequently more difficult than most.
The Three Critical Challenges
1. Socioeconomic challenges
The need to balance work and caregiving can be really difficult for family caregivers, with mental health often taking a toll. Since caregivers are already paying more out of pocket as part of their caregiving responsibilities, they often skip other services that might support their unique challenges, adding to financial strain.
2. Inaccessibility of support programmes
Language barriers make it difficult for family caregivers for whom English or French is a second language. They often have to translate medical information for family members, which can cause anxiety and stress. Translating medical diagnoses and terminology can be tricky, and can lead to misunderstandings between patients and health professionals.
Family caregivers in rural areas have to deal with being geographically and socially isolated, having limited healthcare resources, and often poor public transportation. All of these factors make it hard for them to get to care facilities and can result in missed appointments.
3. Invisibility within the healthcare system
The healthcare system often forgets about family caregivers when deciding what to prioritize. The roundtable participants noted that healthcare providers need to realize that family caregivers are a key part of the caregiving team.
A lot of marginalized family caregivers don’t see themselves as “caregivers” because of cultural norms and expectations. For example, research shows that immigrant caregivers in Canada from many different backgrounds often view caregiving as a cultural and religious obligation. Often, caregivers’ needs get overlooked because they don’t identify with this description of their role.
The Data Gap
There’s a lot of evidence that family caregivers in Canada deal with financial, stress, and health issues. Despite these issues being documented, there’s a lack of information on the challenges and experiences of marginalized caregivers. This shortage of research makes it hard to develop fair support systems and policies for these caregivers, even though there’s a clear need.
Moving Forward
The participants at the roundtable identified three main areas that need to change.
Affordable services: When funding is sustainable, organizations can offer support to marginalized communities at more affordable prices, or even for free. Care providers are more likely to cover costs, which takes the financial and emotional pressure off caregivers.
Improved accessibility: We need cultural or community coordinators to help marginalized caregivers navigate the challenging healthcare system, raise awareness of relevant services, and improve access.
Representation matters: It’s really important to remember that marginalized family caregivers should be at the heart of advocacy, the design of caregiver support services, and policy-making discussions. When we include them in these decisions, it can improve the cultural competency of the healthcare system. This, in turn, can enhance the quality of care for underserved community members.
Conclusion
Caregivers from marginalized backgrounds often face challenges that make it hard for them to provide their loved ones with the appropriate, accessible, and dignified care they need. From money issues and language differences to systemic invisibility within healthcare, these caregivers deal with a lot of challenges that often go unrecognized and unsupported. The lack of data on their unique experiences only makes the problem worse, making it difficult to develop the equitable support systems they desperately need.
While all caregivers face difficulties and challenges, marginalized caregivers have a much tougher time navigating them. Helping lighten the load starts with conversations and research into their specific needs, funding programs and organizations that support them, and creating an environment where Canadian family caregivers can thrive. To read more about the challenges marginalized family caregivers in Canada face, visit the link here.
