A few hours each week
A standing morning or afternoon visit frees you for groceries, appointments, exercise or a nap. You can ask for the same HCA every time, so the person in your care gets to know the aide.
Private home care · Winnipeg
Respite Care at Home in Winnipeg
A Health Care Aide takes over for a few hours, a night or several weeks, so the family caregiver can rest.
Every plan is nurse-led, with 24/7 nursing support.
Free in-home assessment. No obligation.
What respite means
Time Off for Family Caregivers
Respite is a planned break for the relative who looks after someone at home. An Integracare Health Care Aide (HCA) steps in for an agreed period. HCAs are trained workers who help with bathing, meals and daily routines. While the aide is there, you are free to sleep, work, see a doctor, travel or recover from an illness.
Integracare has cared for Canadian families since 1991. Our local team arranges respite in Winnipeg and surrounding area.
Talk through your optionsHours, nights or weeks
3 Ways to Use Respite
Overnight stays
An HCA is there from evening until morning so you can sleep. The aide helps with bathroom trips, a drink of water or a restless spell, and notes anything you should know when you wake.
Cover for a trip or a recovery
When you travel, have surgery or fall ill, an aide can come morning, midday and evening for days or weeks. For a longer absence, we can switch the plan to 24-hour home care or live-in care.
Planned around the routine
Visits That Follow the Person's Own Day
At the assessment we ask how things normally go: when the person gets up, what breakfast looks like, which pills come with lunch and whether there is an afternoon walk. The HCA keeps to that timetable, so meals, medication reminders and rest happen at the usual hours.
Invited relatives can see the schedule and the aide's notes in the Family Room, a website Integracare runs for families. A word at the door about anything new, such as a poor night or a change in appetite, helps the HCA pick up where you left off.
During a visit
What the HCA Handles While You Are Away
Respite covers the same help as our regular Health Care Aide visits.
Personal care
Bathing, dressing, grooming and using the toilet, done the way the person prefers.
Meals
Cooking to the person's diet and tastes, with help at the table if needed.
Medication reminders
Prompts at the times written in the plan.
Safe movement
A steady arm for standing up, walking and going between bed, chair and bathroom.
Company
Conversation, cards, music or a walk outside when the weather allows.
Notes for the family
A short record of appetite, mood, sleep and anything the supervising nurse should see.
How they compare
Private and WRHA Respite at Home
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA) runs public home care. Details are as of October 2026.
Integracare respite
- Setting
- At home
- How to arrange it
- Call our Winnipeg team at (204) 977-7575
- Length
- A few hours, an overnight or several weeks
- Cost to the family
- Paid privately, priced after the assessment
- Good to know
- The same HCA on request, with nursing support 24/7
WRHA in-home respite
- Setting
- At home
- How to arrange it
- A case coordinator's assessment
- Length
- Often up to 4 hours a week, with no overnight support
- Cost to the family
- No charge for services the case coordinator approves
- Good to know
- For home care clients who are medically stable, with a safe care plan and an assessed need for respite
Working with WRHA Home Care
Using Public and Private Respite Together
WRHA Home Care, respite included, goes only to people who need help to stay safe at home beyond what family, friends and community services already provide.
Public in-home respite leaves the nights, the weekends away and the longer stretches to the family. Those are the hours private respite covers. An HCA can stay overnight so you can sleep, or come morning, midday and evening while you recover from your own operation at Grace or Concordia Hospital.
Manitoba's home care guide says each client, and their family where appropriate, is responsible for having a backup plan and using it when needed. Private respite can be part of that plan. An HCA can cover the dates if a respite bed booking falls through, help while you are unwell, or add hours on top of public visits.
Behind every visit
A Nurse Oversees Every Respite Plan
The nurse in charge updates each plan when health or needs change. Nursing support runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, holidays included. The person receiving care, the family and the HCA can all call on it.
Our Health Care Aides are screened and trained. Every one holds CPR and First Aid qualifications and works under a nurse's supervision. Integracare Winnipeg is led by its Director, Dennis Fancy.
Book a First Respite Visit
Tell us the hours you need covered, and we will plan around the person's day.
Local Resources
Other Respite Help in Winnipeg
Other organizations run these programs. Each sets its own rules, and Integracare is separate from all of them. For other community programs near you, call 211 Manitoba.
A & O: Support Services for Older Adults
Its Support for Caregivers program in the City of Winnipeg offers one-on-one help from social work staff, support groups and free 6-week Powerful Tools for Caregivers classes by video call on Zoom. Call (204) 956-6440.
Alzheimer Society of Manitoba
No diagnosis is needed to call the First Link Dementia Helpline, 1 (800) 378-6699. It helps with home care questions, planning ahead and caregiver burnout.
Primary Caregiver Tax Credit
A refundable Manitoba credit of $1,400 a year for one unpaid primary caregiver. Care must last more than 90 days. The person receiving care must live in a private home and be assessed as needing a qualifying level of home care, or have a doctor or nurse practitioner confirm the same need. The province says it may help with costs such as respite. Manitoba Tax Assistance Office: (204) 948-2115.
Before you book
Common Questions About Respite in Winnipeg
How far ahead should we book respite in Winnipeg?
As early as you can, especially before a trip or planned surgery. We reply within one business day to set up the in-home assessment, where we arrange the visits with you.
Can we book respite once, or does it have to be regular?
Either works: a single weekend away, one overnight while you are in hospital, or a standing weekly visit. The plan can grow, shrink or pause as things change.
Can we have the same aide each time?
Yes, you can ask for it, so the person in your care gets to know the HCA. Any aide who covers a visit works from the same written plan and the notes from earlier visits.
Is Integracare part of WRHA Home Care?
No. Integracare is a private home care company. You book respite with us and pay us directly. Our team can explain how it fits with any WRHA services in place.
What if the person resists a new caregiver?
Start with a visit while you are still at home, so they meet the HCA with you in the room. Then step out for longer stretches as trust grows. Tell us about habits, favourite topics and anything that upsets the person, and we will add those details to the plan.
Other Services
More Care in Winnipeg
Home Care in Winnipeg
Health Care Aides in Winnipeg
Nursing Care in Winnipeg
Dementia Care in Winnipeg
Palliative Care in Winnipeg
24-Hour Home Care in Winnipeg
Live-in Care in Winnipeg
Parkinson's Care in Winnipeg
Stroke Care in Winnipeg
We also provide respite care in Greater Toronto and respite care in Ottawa.
Free In-Home Assessment
Schedule Respite Care in Winnipeg
Tell us when you need a break and how the day runs at home. We reply within one business day to set up an assessment.
Prefer to talk?
Winnipeg(204) 977-7575 ↗Toll-free1 (800) 891-4197 ↗We serve families across Greater Winnipeg. See the areas we cover
Clinically reviewed by Bethel McMaster, BScN, RN ·