Behind the Care: The Mental Health Impact of Supporting Others
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Why caregivers in Canada may need stronger mental health and substance use supports.
Caregivers provide essential support to people living with illness, disability, mental health conditions and the effects of aging. That support can take many forms, from personal care and transportation to emotional support and help navigating medical appointments. But the people providing care can face significant pressures of their own.
Our research examines how paid and unpaid caregiving is associated with mental health and substance use among people in Canada aged 16 and older. The findings show a consistent gap between caregivers and people who do not provide care: both paid and unpaid caregivers were more likely to report moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as hazardous or harmful alcohol and cannabis use.
Key findings
Anxiety: After accounting for sociodemographic and other factors, paid and unpaid caregivers were approximately twice as likely as non-caregivers to report moderate-to-severe symptoms of anxiety.
Depression: Both caregiver groups were also at greater risk of moderate-to-severe symptoms of depression. The adjusted analysis found no clear evidence of a meaningful difference between paid and unpaid caregivers.
Alcohol use: Paid caregivers were more than three times as likely as non-caregivers to report hazardous or harmful alcohol use, while unpaid caregivers were approximately 1.7 times as likely.
Cannabis use: Paid caregivers were approximately 2.7 times as likely as non-caregivers to report hazardous or harmful cannabis use. Among unpaid caregivers, the likelihood was approximately 1.7 times higher.
The report found higher substance-use estimates among paid caregivers, but the differences between paid and unpaid caregivers should be interpreted cautiously. Confidence intervals overlapped, particularly for cannabis use, and age may explain some of the observed differences because paid caregivers in the study were younger on average.
Why does this matter?
Caregiving is essential to families, communities and the health system, but the health of caregivers themselves can be overlooked. These findings show that caregiving status is associated with meaningful differences in both mental health and substance use, making caregiver well-being an important part of the broader conversation about mental health inequities.
The findings also reinforce the need to understand caregivers as more than a single group. Paid and unpaid caregivers can face different circumstances and pressures, and effective support needs to reflect those realities. Better understanding where risks are concentrated can help inform more targeted approaches to protecting the people who provide care.
About the findings
This report analyzes data from 4,666 respondents aged 16 and older collected between July 21 and August 5, 2025 through MHRC’s National Population Polling Initiative, supported by Pollara Strategic Insights. Participants were classified as paid caregivers, unpaid caregivers or non-caregivers based on whether they currently provided care or support to someone experiencing health-related challenges, beyond regular childcare.
The analysis used validated measures of anxiety, depression, alcohol use and cannabis use and weighted regression analysis to examine the relationship between caregiving status and these outcomes while accounting for other factors. The study is cross-sectional and relies on self-reported data, so the findings identify associations rather than demonstrating that caregiving causes poorer mental health or substance use outcomes.
