Caregivers Across BC Priced Out of Housing, Study Warns
A nonprofit housing leader argues that impossibly high rents are forcing caregiving families to choose between shelter and survival—a problem with national ripples.
Across British Columbia, a troubling trade-off is becoming routine for families: pay rent or buy groceries, stay housed or fall behind. The issue centers on caregivers—people providing essential care for children, elderly relatives, or people with disabilities—who are being priced out of housing despite the fundamental importance of their work.
Lillian Chau, CEO of Entre Nous Femmes Housing Society and a nonprofit housing leader in BC, argues the paradox is unsustainable. We claim to value caregiving while simultaneously making it impossible for caregivers to afford a place to live. The result is precarity, burnout, and families forced into impossible choices.
The data is stark. In BC, 28 percent of women-led households—many of which include caregiving responsibilities—report housing insecurity. When you're earning modest wages (as many care workers do) in a market where average rents have become unaffordable on single incomes, the math doesn't work.
Why this matters nationally: Canada's childcare and elder care systems depend on caregivers. When they're economically squeezed, the whole ecosystem destabilizes. Turnover increases, quality of care suffers, and the burden shifts back onto families and employers. What looks like a housing crisis in Vancouver or Victoria is actually a care infrastructure crisis with consequences everywhere.
The argument isn't new, but the urgency is growing. As housing costs remain unchecked and wages for care work stagnate, something has to give—and it's increasingly the people doing the work.