Home Care in
Sri Lanka
for Toronto Families.
Home care in Sri Lanka for Toronto families has to work across nine and a half hours and at least one stopover. Your parents are starting the afternoon while Toronto is still asleep. BetterHands puts a vetted carer in their home, writes up every shift, and agrees with you in advance what happens if something goes wrong overnight.
The largest community
Anywhere outside Sri Lanka
9½ hrs
Behind Colombo
1,000+
Carer profiles
Vetted and reference-checked
72 Hours
Placement guarantee
Or we escalate immediately
96%
First-match success
50+ matching factors
PHSRC
Registered nurses
For clinical home nursing
The biggest Sri Lankan community in Canada
Why Toronto Families Arrange Home Care in Sri Lanka.
Greater Toronto holds the largest Sri Lankan population anywhere outside the island. Scarborough is the heart of it, and the community reaches out through Markham, Ajax, Pickering, Brampton and Mississauga.
That density helps in daily life. There is a temple close by, a grocer who stocks the right things, and someone who can recommend a doctor. Word travels fast in both directions.
However, none of it reaches Colombo. The community is in Toronto; the parents are eight thousand miles away. That is the gap professional home care is built to close.
- Adult children working full-time across the GTA, with no sibling left in Sri Lanka
- Parents who never emigrated, so no Ontario entitlement applies to them
- Families who cannot take three weeks off to manage a recovery in person
- Households where the only other option discussed was a care facility
Nine and a half hours, and the day runs backwards
Calling Colombo from Toronto: Finding the Window.
Toronto sits nine and a half hours behind Colombo through the summer and ten and a half in winter. As a result the useful conversation happens in your morning, not your evening.
Your morning, their evening
Eight in the morning in Toronto is half past five in the evening in Colombo. Most GTA families make this call before the commute, while the carer still has the whole day fresh.
Your evening is their night
Eight at night in Toronto is half past five the following morning in Colombo. It reaches a sleeping house, so we keep the evening clear rather than pretending it works.
The update crosses while you sleep
The Colombo day shift closes around six, which is half past eight that same morning here. The write-up is generally on your phone before the first meeting of the day.
What this means for a working family in the GTA
Most Toronto families settle into calling before work rather than after it. A ten-minute call at eight in the morning reaches Colombo at a civilised hour, and it means you have already read the previous shift update before you dial.
Because Canada and Sri Lanka do not change their clocks together, this window slides by an hour twice a year. Sri Lanka does not observe daylight saving at all, so it is always Toronto that moves. We confirm the exact window with each family at the assessment.
Agreed in advance, not invented at 3am
Decisions to Make Before You Need Them.
The worst time to decide who can authorise a hospital admission is while you are on hold from Toronto at three in the morning. Therefore we settle these at the start.
Who we ring first
One named person in Toronto, and one relative or neighbour in Sri Lanka who can physically get there. Both agreed and written down before the placement starts.
Which hospital
Named in advance, with a second choice. In an emergency the carer does not have to guess, and you are not choosing a hospital from a Toronto kitchen at 3am.
What you decide alone
Some families want a call before every GP visit. Others want to be told afterwards. Both work, but only if we agree which one at the start.
What we can put in place
Home Care Services for Your Parents in Sri Lanka.
Where our Toronto families actually live
Serving Sri Lankan Families Across Toronto.
The care always happens in Sri Lanka. What changes across the GTA is how long the family has been here, and how much of the wider family is still in Colombo.
Scarborough
The centre of Sri Lankan Toronto, and where most of our GTA enquiries begin. Families here are often two or three generations deep in Canada.
Markham
A newer and more professional settlement pattern. Households here frequently emigrated later, so parents in Sri Lanka are often still fully independent.
Ajax and Pickering
Families who moved east out of Scarborough for housing, and who kept their community and temple ties back in the city.
Brampton and Mississauga
A more dispersed western community, where families frequently know fewer others in the same position and arrive here from a search.
Before you commit
What Toronto Families Ask Before They Commit.
Does Ontario Health atHome fund care in Sri Lanka?
No. Ontario funds home care delivered in Ontario, after an assessment. A parent in Colombo has never been an Ontario resident, so no provincial coverage applies. The care is a private arrangement from the outset.
Do I need to fly over to organise it?
No. Assessment, matching, approval and payment all run remotely from Toronto. Given that every route stops at least once and a winter storm at Pearson can cost a day, this matters here. Your parents meet the carer in person.
Who is accountable if standards slip?
BetterHands is. Carers are employed and payrolled through us, not introduced and forgotten. One team owns the placement, there is a number to ring, and the replacement guarantee has no cap.
Where the care actually happens
Island-wide coverage in Sri Lanka.
BetterHands coordinates carers from our office in Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, just outside Colombo. Placements run island-wide, including Kandy, Galle, Negombo, Matara and Jaffna.
No district loading applies. A placement two hours from the capital costs the same daily rate as one in Colombo 7. Families discharged from the National Hospital of Sri Lanka or private hospitals are transitioned home directly.
BetterHands (Pvt) Ltd
200 Narahenpita - Nawala Rd, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte 11222, Sri Lanka
+94 74 21 21 744Transparent pricing
Membership first, then simple daily rates.
One annual membership covers coordination, payroll and unlimited carer replacements. After that you pay a flat daily rate for the level of care your parents need. Fees are charged in Sri Lankan rupees.
BetterHands Annual Membership
LKR 20,000
One-time annual registration fee
- Unlimited caregiver replacements at no additional cost if you are not satisfied
- Payroll management and caregiver administration
- Ongoing coordination and support from the BetterHands team
- Access to all services covered under the BetterHands membership
Step two — daily service rates
Duties below are what each role normally provides — your care plan is tailored during the free assessment.
Caregiver
Daily living support and companionship
LKR 4,500/day
Most families start here — a parent who is managing, but should not be alone all day.
- Friendly conversation and companionship
- Bathing and personal care assistance (if required)
- Medication reminders and general supervision
- Simple meals and refreshments
- Short walks and light activities (if appropriate)
- Day-to-day assistance and emotional support
Nursing Assistant
Personal care plus basic clinical support
LKR 6,000/day
Common where diabetes, blood pressure or early-stage dementia needs daily monitoring.
- Everything in the caregiver role
- Vital signs monitoring (BP, blood sugar, SpO₂)
- Medication reminders and administration support
- Basic wound and continence care
Professional Nurse
Complex medical and post-operative needs
LKR 9,000/day
Usually after a hospital discharge, a stroke, or where wounds and IV care are involved.
- Everything in the nursing assistant role
- PHSRC-registered clinical nursing
- Wound care, injections, and IV therapy
- Catheter, NG tube, and post-operative care
Daily rates are charged in addition to the one-time annual registration fee of LKR 20,000. The same daily rates apply to day care, night care and live-in support — no shift premiums, no travel supplements for any district. Hospital bystander cover is priced by shift length instead — see that service page for its packages. A free care assessment is provided before any commitment.
A one-way transfer for the caregiver is arranged at the start of placement.
Families we look after
Trusted with the people who raised us.
“BetterHands transformed my mother's quality of life. The caregivers are professional, compassionate, and treat her with so much dignity. Our whole family is relieved and grateful.”
Chamari W.
Colombo 07
“After my father's heart surgery at Lanka Hospitals, the nursing team from BetterHands provided exceptional post-operative care at home. They were thorough, kind, and always on time.”
Roshan & Dilini P.
Nugegoda
“My grandfather was very lonely after being discharged from hospital. His BetterHands companion has become a true friend — he is happier and more engaged than he's been in years.”
Priya N.
Kandy
Questions from Toronto
Frequently Asked Questions from Toronto Families.
Yes. BetterHands runs a free assessment with your parents in Sri Lanka, matches a carer, and sends a written welfare update after every shift. You approve the care plan and pay from Toronto. No family member needs to fly over to set it up.
Nine and a half hours through the summer and ten and a half in winter, with Colombo ahead. Sri Lanka does not observe daylight saving, so it is always Toronto that shifts. Eight in the morning here is half past five in the evening there.
No. Every route involves at least one stop, most commonly through Doha, Dubai, Istanbul or London. Door-to-door journeys run past twenty hours, and winter weather at Pearson can add a day before you have left Canada.
No. Publicly funded home care in Ontario covers care delivered inside the province following a needs assessment. It does not extend overseas, and a parent who never lived in Ontario has no claim on it under any circumstances.
Only where your parent is entitled to it themselves. Old Age Security can be paid outside Canada if someone lived here at least twenty years after turning eighteen, and CPP is payable abroad. Confirm any individual case with Service Canada.
Most placements begin within seventy-two hours of an approved care plan. Where a parent is being discharged from hospital we work to the discharge date instead. The assessment itself is usually arranged within a day or two of your first call.
We replace them, and there is no cap on replacements inside your membership year. Because carers are employed by BetterHands rather than introduced to you, changing a placement does not mean starting the search again yourself.
Yes. Language is one of the matching factors, alongside cooking, religious observance, temperament and medical experience. For many Toronto families this is the single most important detail in the match.
BetterHands nurses are registered with Sri Lanka's Private Health Services Regulatory Council. Ontario home care and Canadian pension entitlements should be confirmed with Ontario Health atHome and Service Canada, as individual circumstances vary.
You cannot get there quickly. Somebody else can already be there.
A flight from Toronto takes the better part of a day, and that is before a storm at Pearson or a missed connection in Doha. Meanwhile your parents need help this afternoon, not next Tuesday.
A vetted carer in the house. Home nursing when the condition calls for it. A written update after every shift, waiting before your Toronto morning begins. One company accountable, with unlimited replacements if the match is wrong.
The assessment costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Sometimes it tells families their parents need far less than they feared. Either way you stop assembling the truth from short phone calls.
Check it yourself
Sources and further reading for Toronto families.
Entitlements and health guidance change. These are the official sources — go to them rather than taking our word for it.
Your parents are in Sri Lanka.
We are already there.
A 15-minute call, booked for your morning before work rather than the middle of your night. We will tell you honestly what your parents need, even if that is less than you expected.
1,000+
Caregiver profiles
96%
First-match success
Trained
Caregiver training
72
Hours to placement