Senior Care Price Transparency Index: Only 7.8% of Canadian Providers Publish a Price

The headline number

Of the 3,818 senior care providers listed on Senior Care Path in October 2026, 296, or 7.8%, publish a starting price. That's the baseline for this index, which we'll update every quarter.

Families can't compare what they can't see. A price is the first thing most people want to know, and for more than 9 in 10 providers they have to call, book a tour or fill in a form to get one.

By type of care

Retirement homes lead, but even there four in five keep prices off their listing. Home care is almost entirely "call for a quote". Long-term care accommodation rates are set by provinces, so homes rarely publish them individually.

By province

Quebec is the most open, at 14.7% of listings, followed by Alberta (10.2%) and British Columbia (8.9%). Ontario sits at 6.7% across 1,936 listings, largely because of its many home care agencies.

By brand

The biggest differences are between operators. Among brands with 10 or more listings in our directory:

• Publish for most residences: Chartwell (103 of 113), Le Groupe Maurice (16 of 16), Sunrise (14 of 15), Optima Living (15 of 18)
• Publish for few or none: Amica (0 of 35), Aspira (0 of 37), Verve (0 of 21), and every national home care franchise we list, including Home Instead, Right at Home, Bayshore and Nurse Next Door

Publishing a starting price doesn't make a home cheaper or better. It does let a family decide quickly whether a home fits their budget before they spend an afternoon on a tour.

What we're doing about it

Where a home doesn't publish a rate, its Senior Care Path listing now shows the typical local range from homes that do, clearly labelled as not that home's price. When an operator publishes their own rate, it shows as "Price confirmed by the operator." Our retirement home cost guide has the medians by province and city.