“Canada is facing a caregiving crisis that will only get worse without real action.” This stark warning came from the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence (CCCE), as it cautions that a “perfect storm” is brewing when it comes to caring for our aging loved ones.

An estimated 6.4 million Canadians provide unpaid care for family and friends needing assistance with the activities of daily living.

As Baby Boomers age, their care needs grow in volume and complexity – but their caregivers are also getting older. The number of younger caregivers is shrinking, because Boomers didn’t have as many kids as their parents, and it’s getting more difficult by the day to find qualified, paid care providers like personal support workers.

For its new study, “Caring in Canada,” the CCCE surveyed more than 3,000 caregivers and care providers to get a sense of the challenges.

What first jumps out from the report is just how much of the burden of care falls on unpaid caregivers. They “work,” on average, 5.1 hours daily for 4.6 years taking care of loved ones.

The typical caregiver is a middle-aged person caring for an aging parent. Most also have paid work, and often kids to care for, too.

Caregiving duties are many and varied. In fact, there are 12 broad categories of care: emotional support; transportation; meal preparation/housekeeping; home maintenance; managing finances; co-ordination of care; personal care, which includes feeding and bathing; medical treatment, such as wound care; financial support; facilitating social activity; overnight support; and faith activities.

Caregivers typically carry out an average of four of these duties, and that jumps to seven for older caregivers (who typically live with a partner).

Most people provide care lovingly and willingly. In fact, as the report notes, the intimate act of caring is often rewarding.

But it’s also hard.

In its report, the CCCE says there are six key challenges occurring simultaneously:

There are, of course, policy solutions to all these issues.

The survey revealed, unsurprisingly, that caregivers have two main needs/wishes: More financial support, and better access to home care.

Our employment policies need to make it as easy to take leave to care for an aging parent as it is to take parental leave with a newborn. Monthly allowances and tax credits are also required to help caregivers cope – and make it easier for them to return to the work force.

Policy responses also need to be done thoughtfully and deliberately, guided by the needs of caregivers, and spelled out in a National Caregiving Strategy, such as the one drafted by the CCCE.

At some point, almost every one of us is going to be a caregiver or a care receiver. We owe it to ourselves to get this right.