How we verify listings
Last updated 2026-07-01
Anyone can scrape a map and publish a list. The hard part, and the part that makes a directory worth trusting, is leaving out the businesses that are not actually home care. Here is how we decide what belongs.
1. We gather listings from public sources
We start with publicly available business listings across the Greater Toronto Area, then remove duplicates, permanently closed businesses, and entries with no usable contact information.
2. We read each provider's own website
For every candidate, we look at what the business says it does in its own words, not just the category label attached to it. A listing that calls itself "senior care" might be a home care agency, a retirement residence, or a staffing company. The website usually makes the difference clear.
3. We remove what is not in-home care
This is the step most directories skip. We exclude businesses that are not genuine in-home care providers, including:
- Retail and medical-equipment stores
- Staffing, recruitment, and caregiver-referral agencies that place people rather than provide care
- Retirement residences, long-term care homes, and other facility-based care
- Single-service clinics such as physiotherapy, massage, or foot-care practices
- Associations, directories, and advocacy organizations
- Fitness, wellness, and other services that are not home care
What remains is a list of providers who send caregivers, personal support workers, or nurses into the client's own home.
4. We standardize the details
We organize each provider's services, the conditions they support, languages, availability, and service area into a consistent format, so you can compare agencies side by side instead of decoding a dozen different websites.
What this does not mean
Inclusion in HomeCare Compass is not an endorsement, a licence check, or a guarantee of quality. We verify that a provider appears to offer in-home care, and we organize public information about them. We do not inspect agencies, and we are not affiliated with any of them. Details change, and public sources can be wrong or out of date, so always confirm services, credentials, and pricing directly with the provider before you commit.