Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation

Over 8 million Canadians devote their lives to loved ones. One in four Canadians are caregivers, yet 51% are overwhelmed. Spending a weekly average of 19 hours on caregiving responsibilities, these critical community members are often worried, anxious and tired. Canada's health care system would collapse without the millions of Canadians who provide care to others yet most of these dedicated people aren’t recognized for the important role they play and don’t have the support they need to provide effective care and stay healthy themselves.

Caregivers who were struggling before are under even more pressure as a result of the pandemic.

In 2017 Petro-Canada identified the need to develop a compelling social purpose that addressed a social issue that was meaningful and important to its employees, associates and people across the country. Extensive discussions with company leaders and employees revealed an opportunity to support an issue that was impacting the lives of millions of Canadian who provide informal care to their families, friends and neighbours.

During 2019 and 2020, Petro-Canada and impakt collaborated to gain an in-depth, evidence-informed understanding of the context for caregiving in Canada. This involved a learning and co-creation process with leaders, managers, employees and associates at Petro-Canada alongside a diverse group of caregiving and health care experts and people with lived experience from across Canada.

The insight from this process shaped the design and launch of the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation, a charitable organization that creates awareness and understanding of the issue of caregiving in Canada and inspires Canadians to help. The foundation also raises funds that are used to enable and amplify the work of charitable organizations that support family caregivers and collaborate with other organizations to create innovative new programs, resources and tools.

Another important aspect of the development of this program was the use of impakt’s “Request for Partnership” process that helped to identify charitable organizations from across Canada who were doing the most innovative and effective work in the caregiving space.

In support of the planning and launch of the Foundation, impakt led the development of a discussion paper entitled “Caregiving in Canada: Challenges and opportunities shaping a national conversation”.

In December of 2020, Petro-Canada launched the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation and has achieved the following outcomes to date:

• Committed to invest $10 million over the next five years to bring awareness and support to the essential work of caregivers
• Formed four meaningful partnerships with CareMakers, impactful local organizations that support caregivers through innovative programs and services, including the Baycrest Foundation, Community City of Kawartha Lakes, the Neighbourhood Houses of BC and Mt. Sinai Hospital's Circle of Care.

The Petro‑Canada CareMakers Foundation will create awareness and understanding of the issue of family caregiving in Canada, generate investment in this pressing issue, and inspire Canadians to support their local CareMakers.

Ultimately, the goal of the Petro-Canada CareMakers Foundation’s work is to inspire local, provincial and national dialogue and action around the need for a national caregiver strategy.