Ottawa · Home care marketplace

Care chosen by you, from people you trust.

Balay-a is a two-sided marketplace for home care in Ottawa. Families describe what they need and choose from verified independent providers. Providers run their own business, set their own rates, and keep almost everything they earn.

For families For providers

Balay means home.The "a" stands for alaga, care.

The concept

One marketplace, two sides winning.

Not an agency. Balay-a connects families directly with independent care providers and gets out of the way, except where trust is concerned.

Families choose

Browse verified profiles, compare fit, rates, and languages, and pick the exact person you welcome in. Never a stranger assigned by a dispatcher.

Providers keep almost everything

Providers set their own rates and keep almost everything they earn, significantly more than agency work typically pays. Card processing is inside our share, never charged to them.

Verified before visible

No profile appears to families until every check is complete: ID, record check, insurance, CPR. We never claim a check we haven't done.

For families

From sign-up to trusted regular.

Create your account

Set up your household profile once: who's who, where home is, and a card on file. The card is vaulted securely and never charged until you confirm a booking.

Tell us what you need

Pick your services, tick the exact tasks, choose a date, time, and duration, and set your preferred language. Combine services in one request if you like.

Browse verified providers

See the providers who match your needs, languages, and schedule. Photos, rates, reviews, verification badges. You compare, you choose.

Book, then Book Again

Confirm and your card is charged one clear price, no surcharge. Love someone's work? Rebook them directly next time with one tap.

For providers

Your work, your rate, your reputation.

You're an independent business on Balay-a, not an employee and not agency staff.

Create your account

Get verified

Complete our verification process: government ID, vulnerable-sector check, liability insurance, and CPR/first aid. Your profile goes live only when every check is done.

Set your services, hours, and rate

Choose your categories and the exact tasks you do, set your weekly availability, and post your own hourly rate. PSWs can offer all three categories, given their credentials and scope of practice.

Get chosen and get paid

Families book you directly. You accept or decline every request freely. You keep almost everything you earn, paid out on your schedule, with tips going 100% to you.

Start your application

Trust and safety

Safety isn't a badge. It's the rules.

Every provider profile carries proof, not promises.

ID verified Record check $1M insured CPR / first aid Re-verified yearly

✓No substitutes, ever. Your family chose a specific person. If they can't make it, you choose the replacement.

✓16-hour safety cap. No provider works more than 16 platform hours in any 24-hour period.

✓Honest reviews. Post-visit reviews from real bookings, published together so no one can retaliate. Genuine negatives stay.

✓Clear boundaries. Adults only. No clinical services. Providers never transport clients in their vehicles.

The story in our name

Why we chose the name Balay-a.

Balay-a started with a simple frustration: agencies charge families too much while the people doing the caring are paid too little, and families get whoever the dispatcher sends. We built the opposite. A marketplace where families choose exactly who they welcome in, and where providers set their own rates, control their own time, and keep almost everything they earn.

The name comes from home. Balay (bah-LAI) is the Hiligaynon word for home, the language of Panay Island in the Philippines, where our family's roots are in Antique. The "a" stands for alaga, the Filipino word for care. Home and care, in one word.

It says exactly what we're building: a home for care work done right. Where family gathers, where elders are surrounded by familiar routines, and where everyday care matters.

Ready when you are.

Tell us what you need and choose from verified providers your family can trust. One clear price, no surcharge, ever.

Book now Apply as a provider