Choosing a home care provider is a decision most families make quickly, under stress, and without much of a roadmap. You’re usually comparing two or three agencies over the phone in the space of a few days, trying to figure out who’s trustworthy based on a short conversation.
Here’s the list of questions we think matters most — including a few that most agencies, including us, would rather not answer, but should.
About the caregivers
“Are your caregivers employees or contractors?” This affects accountability, training consistency, and how much oversight the company actually has over who shows up at your parent’s door. Ask directly — a provider that’s vague about this is worth a second question.
“What training do your caregivers actually complete?” “Trained” can mean a lot of things. Ask what the training covers, how long it takes, and whether it’s specific to the kind of care your family needs (for example, dementia-specific training).
“Are your caregivers licensed?” This is a more loaded question than it sounds. In Manitoba, general caregiving roles — companionship, homemaking, personal care — aren’t licensed or regulated by the province. There’s no license to hold. A provider that tells you their general caregivers are “licensed” is either confused or stretching the truth. What you should hear is language like “trained,” “certified,” or “completed an in-house program” for general care, and “licensed RN or LPN” specifically for nursing-tier tasks like medication administration or wound care. If a company blurs that line, take it as a signal, not a technicality.
“What background and reference checks do you run?” A criminal record check and verified references should be table stakes. Ask what’s actually done, not just whether “checks are completed.”
About the matching process
“How do you decide which caregiver gets matched with my family?” Some agencies match based on whoever’s available next. Others actually consider personality, experience, and specific needs. Neither answer is necessarily wrong, but you should know which one you’re getting — see how we approach this on our Our Approach page.
“What happens if the caregiver isn’t a good fit?” Every agency should have a clear, no-friction answer to this. If they hesitate or make it sound complicated, that’s worth noting.
About accountability
“Who do I call if something goes wrong, and how fast can I expect a response?” Get a specific answer, not “we’re always available.” Ask what “quickly” actually means in hours.
“Do you check in after care begins, or is it a one-time handoff?” Some providers are excellent during the sales conversation and largely absent afterward. Ask what ongoing involvement looks like once care actually starts.
About cost
“What’s included in the hourly rate, and what isn’t?” Ask about minimum hours, cancellation policies, and whether rates change for holidays, overnight care, or short-notice requests. See our Cost of Care page for how we think about pricing.
“Can you give me a written estimate before I commit to anything?” A provider unwilling to put a number in writing, even a range, is a yellow flag.
The one question worth asking every provider, including us
“What can’t you do?” Any home care provider that claims to handle everything, for everyone, without exception, probably isn’t being straight with you. A provider who tells you clearly where their limits are — what requires a licensed nurse, what’s outside their scope, when they’d refer you elsewhere — is usually the more trustworthy one.
Where Fenora stands on all of this
We’d rather you ask us these questions directly than take our word for it. Our general caregiving team is Fenora-trained and Fenora-Certified — not licensed, because Manitoba doesn’t regulate that role. For anything requiring medication administration or wound care, we bring in an independent, actively licensed RN or LPN. We match caregivers deliberately rather than by availability, and we stay involved after care begins.
If you’re comparing us against other agencies, we’d encourage it — reach out to Fenora and ask us anything on this list.