Are Home Care Agencies Licensed in Ontario? What to Check Instead

You've found an agency that sounded kind on the phone. Before a stranger gets a key to your dad's front door, you want to know who, if anyone, has checked them.

As of October 2026, Ontario has no provincial licence for private home care agencies: a company selling personal support, companion or nursing visits to families who pay privately is not licensed and inspected the way a retirement home is. What Ontario does regulate is the people. Nurses must be registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario, and personal support workers (PSWs) can register, voluntarily, with the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority, which has run a public register since December 1, 2024.

So the checking is yours to do. The good news: it doesn't take long, and every register below is free and public.

Do this next

• Shortlist two or three agencies on our Ontario home care directory, ranked by Confidence Score, and open each one's Licenses & Registration section.
• Ask each agency for the names of the nurse and PSWs who would visit, then look them up using the steps below.
• Bring the "what to ask for" list in this guide to your first call, and ask for the documents by email.

Are private home care agencies licensed in Ontario?

No. Ontario licenses retirement homes through the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority and long-term care homes through the province, but there is no matching licence or public register for a private agency that sends caregivers into a home. A new agency can open, set its rates and start booking visits without a provincial care inspection.

That surprises most families, and it should change how you shop. A polished website, a franchise name or a long list of services tells you nothing about whether anyone outside the company has looked at how it hires and supervises.

Our take: Don't let the missing licence scare you off agencies. Most of the good ones work hard to earn trust without being forced to. Just stop looking for a licence number and start asking for the four or five documents that actually protect your parent.

What is licensed, registered or voluntary in Ontario home care?

Here is the whole picture on one screen. The first column is what you might expect to find; the last tells you where to check it yourself.

Two lines in that table carry most of the weight for a family: the nurse's registration, because it is the law, and the PSW register, because it shows complaints and discipline you'd never hear about otherwise.

How do you check a nurse on the College of Nurses of Ontario register?

Any RN, RPN or nurse practitioner caring for your parent in Ontario should appear on the College of Nurses of Ontario's public register, Find a Nurse. Nursing titles are protected under Ontario's Nursing Act, 1991, so someone who isn't registered can't legally call themselves a nurse here.

1. Ask the agency for the nurse's full name, and their registration number if they'll share it.
2. Go to the College's Confirm a Nurse's Status page and open Find a Nurse.
3. Search by name or registration number. Every nurse registered in Ontario has a profile.
4. Read the class (RN, RPN or NP) and whether they are entitled to practise. RPNs and RNs do different work, so it should match what the agency promised.
5. Scroll for any restrictions, suspensions or discipline. Then save or screenshot the page with the date.

If the name doesn't come up at all, call the agency and ask why before the first visit, not after.

How do you check a PSW on the HSCPOA register?

The Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority (HSCPOA) was set up under the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority Act, 2021, and began registering PSWs on December 1, 2024. Its public register shows whether a registered PSW is in good standing, plus any suspension, revocation, conditions, complaints or discipline.

1. Ask the agency for the first and last name of each PSW on your parent's schedule.
2. Open the HSCPOA public register and follow the link to find a registered PSW.
3. Search the name. Check that the status reads in good standing.
4. Read any conditions or discipline notes in full. A note isn't always a deal breaker, but you deserve to hear the agency's explanation.

Because registration is voluntary, a PSW missing from the register is not proof of a problem. A skilled, long-serving PSW may simply not have signed up yet. Treat it as a question to ask, not a verdict.

Our take: If an agency tells you its PSWs are registered, take two minutes and check one or two names. The agencies that welcome that check are the ones we'd hire.

Want to know what a PSW can and can't do in the home? Our guide to what a personal support worker does covers the role.

Does a registered business mean a home care agency is legitimate?

A business registration proves the company legally exists and, if the status reads Active, that it is keeping up its filings with the government. Federal corporations show up in the free Corporations Canada search, with a status of Active, Inactive or Dissolved. Ontario corporations show up in the Ontario Business Registry, which anyone can search for free.

It is a real signal. You learn the legal name behind the brand, the corporation number, and that you're not dealing with a business that dissolved last year and kept its website up.

What it does not tell you matters just as much:

• It is not a care licence. No one reviewed care plans, staffing or training to grant it.
• It says nothing about insurance, WSIB or police checks.
• It says nothing about quality, kindness or whether visits show up on time.

Our take: A registration is the floor, not the ceiling. We'd be wary of an agency that has none, but we'd never choose one because it has one.

What should you ask the agency for instead of a licence?

Ask for paperwork, by email, before you sign. A confident agency sends it within a day.

1. A certificate of insurance for general liability, with the policy dates. Ask whether it covers damage or loss in a client's home.
2. A WSIB clearance, or a clear answer on how workers are covered if they're hurt in your parent's home. You can confirm a business is registered and up to date with the WSIB's clearance search.
3. Its police check policy. Ontario's Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 sets out three levels of check, and the vulnerable sector check is the most thorough. Ask which level the agency requires and how often it's redone.
4. Who employs the caregivers. Employees of the agency, or independent contractors it books for you.
5. Who supervises. The name of the nurse or care manager who writes and reviews the care plan.

Employees versus contractors deserves a minute. When caregivers are employees, the agency is the one managing their pay deductions, coverage, training and discipline. When they're contractors, ask plainly who carries insurance and who is responsible if something goes wrong, and get the answer in writing.

One more licence you might hear about: Ontario has required temporary help agencies to hold a licence since July 1, 2024. That applies to businesses that employ workers and assign them to clients. If an agency calls itself a staffing agency, you can look it up on the province's licensing status check.

Ready to compare? These Ontario agencies rank highest on our Confidence Score right now:

What are the red flags when checking a home care agency?

Most warning signs show up on the first call, long before the first visit:

• They can't or won't give caregivers' full names before the visit starts.
• "We're fully licensed" with no answer to "by whom?" There is no agency licence to hold in Ontario, so ask what they mean.
• A nurse who isn't on the College of Nurses register, or a story about why the profile is missing.
• No insurance certificate, or one that expired.
• Pressure to pay a large deposit, or to pay caregivers in cash.
• The legal name on the contract doesn't match any registration you can find.

Families in Toronto, Ottawa and Oakville have plenty of agencies to choose from, so walking away from one that dodges these questions costs you very little.

What do premium agencies show without being asked?

The higher-end private agencies, often the ones running 24-hour or live-in care, tend to lead with proof. Expect a named RN or care manager who visits and updates the plan, a full insurance certificate in your inbox, consistent caregivers you can look up, and often an outside accreditation such as Accreditation Canada.

That last one belongs to a different section of every listing. Our guide to senior care associations and accreditations explains what those badges mean and how they differ from registration.

Our take: Paying more is worth it when the extra buys supervision you can name and verify. It isn't worth it for a nicer brochure. For round-the-clock care, see our guide to 24-hour and live-in home care.

What does the Licenses & Registration section on a home care listing tell you?

Every home care profile on Senior Care Path has a Licenses & Registration section, and it can show two kinds of cards.

• Registered business. We match listings to Corporations Canada open data by name plus postal area or city, and review each match before it goes live. The card shows the legal name, corporation number, status, the month we checked it, and a link to view the official record. It confirms the company exists and is active; it is not a care licence.
• Licences. Registrations and numbers the provider has added and our team has checked, each with a link to the public register where one exists.

If the section is empty, it means the agency hasn't added anything yet, not that it failed a check.

For home care agencies, a matched, active business registration earns the "Licenses & registration verified" signal in the SCP Confidence Score, our 100-point confidence rating. That signal is worth 7 of the 100 points, because a registration is meaningful but small. You can see every signal on our Confidence Score page.

Associations and accreditations sit in their own section just below, since membership is voluntary and separate from registration.

What about home care in BC, Alberta and Quebec?

The pattern is similar: check the people, then the company.

British Columbia. Care aides and community health workers employed by publicly funded employers must register with the BC Care Aide and Health Worker Registry. For a private agency, ask whether its aides are registered. Nurses can be looked up on the BC College of Nurses and Midwives registry.

Alberta. Since February 2, 2026, health care aides are regulated under Alberta's Health Professions Act and registered with the College of Licensed Practical Nurses and Health Care Aides of Alberta, which publishes a public register that families can search.

Quebec. Nurses must be on the roll of the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec; you can verify a nurse's right to practise online. Quebec's well-known certification is for private seniors' residences (RPAs). For a home care company, look it up in the Quebec enterprise register by name or NEQ.

Wherever your parent lives, the order holds: confirm the people, confirm the company, then compare care. Our guide on how to choose a home care agency picks up from there.