How it works
From searching to a finished visit
Say what you need
Search by the kind of care, where you are and when you need someone. If you are not sure what kind of help you are looking for, the assistant can talk it through with you in plain words.
The assistant explains what different professionals do and helps you narrow things down. It does not assess symptoms, give medical advice or decide what care someone needs — those are questions for a clinician.
Not yet: No account is needed to look, nothing is charged, and nobody is contacted on your behalf.
Choose someone yourself
Every profile shows what has been verified, the professional's own hourly rate, the languages they speak and what they can and cannot do in their role.
You can message someone and arrange a video interview before booking anything. Nobody is assigned to you, and we do not sell placement in search results.
Not yet: Messaging or interviewing someone books nothing and commits you to nothing. Either side can stop at any point.
Send a booking request
A request names the date, the hours and what you need help with. The professional accepts or declines it — a request is not a confirmed visit.
Before you send it you see the whole figure: the professional's rate, the Pillow Care fee and tax at your provincial rate. Nothing is added afterwards.
Not yet: Your card is not charged when you send a request. If the professional declines, nothing happens at all.
The visit, and paying for it
After the visit the professional writes up what happened. They choose what is shared with the family and what stays with you, because a visit note can contain something a person did not intend their relatives to read.
Payment is captured once the visit is complete and the report is filed. What happens if you cancel, and how refunds work, is set out on the pricing page — before you book, not after.
You can report a concern from any profile, message or booking at any time.
Not yet: A completed visit is not the end of it. If something went wrong, tell us — a report opens a case that a person reads.
When money moves
You see the professional's rate, the Pillow Care fee and tax before you send a request. Your card is charged after the visit is complete and the report is filed, not when you request or when the professional accepts.
The professional's earnings are held for 24 hours after the visit so there is time to raise anything that went wrong, then sent to their bank. How long a bank takes varies.
Cancellations, refunds and what happens in a dispute are set out on the pricing page.
What Pillow Care does not do
Each of these is easier to read now than to discover later.
- We are not an emergency service. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 — they will reach you faster than we can.
- We do not provide urgent medical response, and we do not arrange care inside a hospital, hospice or care home.
- Pillow Care itself gives no medical advice. Professionals work only within their own role: a support worker cannot adjust a dose, and a nurse does not prescribe.
- We cannot yet arrange care for anyone under 18, or for an adult who is not able to agree to it themselves.
- We verify identity and professional licences. We do not currently run criminal-record checks, and we will say so here when we do.
- We are running an Ontario pilot. If you are elsewhere in Canada you can still register, but you may not find anyone near you yet.
Where to go next
- Care services — what each kind of care covers, and what it does not.
- Safety and verification — what is checked, and what “verified” does not mean.
- Find care — start looking. Nothing is charged.
- For care professionals — how it works from the other side.