05/25/2026
More than 5,000 independent senior home-care agencies operate across Canada, and most are struggling to grow and make a profit.
One of the biggest reasons is slow intake.
A family inquiring about home care isn't browsing. They need help urgently. They are dealing with a fall, a hospital discharge, or a parent or spouse no longer safe alone. If you don’t respond quickly and with empathy, you've already lost them to a competitor.
Most agencies lose leads in the same way. The owner is on a visit when the phone rings. The staff who could answer don't treat every call like a family about to choose someone else. The web form sits in an inbox until Monday, by when the family has booked another agency.
If you advertise online, home-care clicks on Google run $5-7 in Canada, and only a small share converts to inquiries, putting the cost of each lead around $150. A lead that becomes a 10-hour-a-week client at $40 an hour is worth $1,600 in the first month alone. Most clients stay much longer.
Industry studies show that responding to a lead within the hour makes them seven times more likely to convert, and agencies tracking every inquiry proactively have more than double the median revenue of those that don't.
Intake is one of six places an agency leaks profit, along with acquisition cost, pricing, labour percentage, shift coverage and delivery efficiency.
We built a free online tool that benchmarks you on all six in five minutes. It's the work a consultant charges thousands for, but instant and based on your numbers.
Take the diagnostic: https://www.considracare.com/book-operational-review/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
Intake is one of six places an agency leaks profit, along with acquisition cost, pricing, labour percentage, shift coverage, and delivery efficiency.n our website.