The Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO) exists to improve the lives of Ontario’s 4 million caregivers.

Who are caregivers?

Ordinary people who provide physical and emotional support to a family member, partner, friend, or neighbour.

The OCO supports caregivers by being their one point of access to information, so they have what they need to be successful in their role.

Collaborating with caregivers

The OCO works collaboratively with caregivers, healthcare providers and other organizations to improve the caregiving experience. How?

How we collaborate

Collaborating with caregivers to develop programs and services has been the foundation of our work.

Our working groups

Through our various working groups, we actively engage and draw on the lived experiences of caregivers to co-create programs and services. These groups include:

Interested in sharing your perspective?

OCO in Your Community

Learn more about the work we’re doing in your community.

Our Commitment

  • Land Acknowledgement

    The OCO carries out our work while acknowledging the Indigenous Peoples of all the lands that we are on today.

    While we connect through virtual platforms, we wish to invite you to reflect on the land where you are; if you are not familiar with that, you can use this interactive map that tells you which traditional territory a city or town sits on.

  • Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Access (IDEA) Statement

    The Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO) values the inherent worth of every person and all our differences, including age, ancestry, disability, gender expression, gender identity, race, religion, and sexual orientation. It also commits OCO to recognizing the “rights, respect, trust, co-operation, and partnership with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples”, and to championing the “inclusion, diversity, equality, equity and accessibility in the learning, work and service environments”.*

    *Note: The OCO credits the University Health Network (UHN) for their Diversity and Inclusion statement, upon which OCO’s is based.

  • Addressing Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action

    The following call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission helps guide our work:

    We call upon those who can effect change within the Canadian health-care system to recognize the value of Aboriginal healing practices and use them in the treatment of Aboriginal patients in collaboration with Aboriginal healers and Elders were requested by Aboriginal patients.

    Actionable steps OCO has taken towards fulfilling the Truth & Reconciliation Calls to Action:

    • All OCO staff have participated in awareness training provided by Indigenous community members.

    • All OCO staff have a personalized land acknowledgement for where they live and work which is used in our events and meetings.

    • We recognize the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation as a team, enabling each team member to participate in local or online events to support learning and reflection.

    • Many OCO team members took a self-directed course on Indigenous history and cultural safety (PHSA San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Online Training Program).

    • OCO has reviewed and made changes to the language we use based on the preferred language guidelines developed by the University of British Columbia (UBC) to ensure we are correcting common colonial terms.

    • Our team seeks out and maintains meaningful partnership opportunities with Indigenous caregivers, service providers, and community members across the province.

    • OCO gathers insights and considerations from all caregivers to shape the feedback we provide to the health system and community partners.

    • We have worked with partners at Helpline to ensure specialists receive Indigenous cultural safety training and offer Indigenous language options through our interpretation service.

    • We have compiled a list of resources for Indigenous Communities on our website to support Indigenous caregivers.

    • We are partnering with the Centre for Education and Research on Aging & Health at Lakehead University (CERAH) to adapt our Time to Talk pamphlet and I am a Caregiver Toolkit for Indigenous communities.

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Spotlight Report 2023
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Most of us, at some point in our lives, will be a caregiver to someone close to us. A caregiver provides physical and/or emotional support to a family member, partner, friend, or neighbour. Who do you care for?