How HelpNest works for families and providers
HelpNest is a marketplace: independent providers offer their own services and set their own rates. Here’s how finding, requesting and arranging help works, step by step.
Finding, requesting and confirming care
Five steps, from your first search to the day of your booking.
Specify whether you need evening babysitting, daytime childcare or academic tutoring. Filter by date, time window and service radius.
Read about each provider’s experience, services and rates, and see the status of each screening check. Only checks marked Verified have been reviewed by HelpNest. You’ll only be offered times the caregiver has made available and, if they’ve connected Google Calendar, times they’re free.
You’ll see an estimated total in CAD based on the provider’s hourly rate and the hours you choose. HelpNest doesn’t charge booking fees. Sending a request does not book the time yet.
Your request becomes a booking only when the provider accepts it, and confirming it needs your identity to be verified. During the booking you can request check-ins and read the caregiver’s care updates.
HelpNest does not process payments at this time. You and the provider agree how and when payment is made. If plans change, either of you can cancel the booking and give a reason.
Connected care, explained
What is connected scheduling?
Caregivers set their own availability in HelpNest: weekly hours, days off, how much notice they need and breaks between bookings. Families are only offered those times. Caregivers can also connect Google Calendar so times they’re busy are removed. Once a caregiver accepts a booking, it’s added to a separate “HelpNest bookings” calendar for anyone who has connected one, and it’s moved or removed if the booking changes or is cancelled. Connecting a calendar is optional.
What can HelpNest see in my Google Calendar?
Only whether you’re busy or free in your main calendar. HelpNest can’t read your event titles, guests, locations or notes, and it can change only the “HelpNest bookings” calendar it creates. You can disconnect at any time, which also revokes HelpNest’s access.
How do check-in requests work?
During a confirmed booking, the care seeker can ask for a message or a short video check-in, up to once an hour. The caregiver decides whether to accept. A Google Meet link is created only when a caregiver accepts a video check-in, and only the two people on the booking can see it.
What are care activity logs?
Short updates a caregiver adds during a booking, such as meals, activities, tasks completed or anything unusual. Only the two people on the booking can see them. Entries can’t be edited or deleted; if something needs fixing, the caregiver adds a correction that appears alongside the original. Care logs are not medical records.
How is identity verification different from a background check?
Identity verification confirms that someone is who they say they are, by checking a government photo ID with Stripe. It doesn’t look at criminal records. A police check, including vulnerable sector screening, is a separate document a caregiver can upload; profiles show whether HelpNest has reviewed it and when it expires. Neither is a guarantee of safety, so meet caregivers and ask for references.
What do caregiver credentials on a profile mean?
Caregivers can upload police checks, first aid and CPR certificates and other qualifications. “Verified” means a person at HelpNest reviewed the document and it was valid on the review date; “Expired” means its date has passed. Families see the status and expiry date, never the document itself. Uploading a document is not the same as verification.
How does the HelpNest membership work?
Care seekers and caregivers each have a monthly membership in Canadian dollars. Everyone starts with two free months, with no card required, and you’re never charged unless you choose a paid plan. You can cancel from your account at any time, and your account, agreements, privacy and safety tools stay available whatever your membership status.
How do I choose an independent caregiver?
Compare experience, services and rates, then look at which credentials HelpNest has reviewed and whether identity is verified. Message or video-call before booking, ask for references, and agree routines, emergency contacts and payment in advance. You decide who is right for your family; HelpNest doesn’t employ or supervise caregivers.