Welcome to Saheli

Saheli in short

Saheli is a private marketplace for everyday, non-medical care. Families who need help for someone they care about find a companion, message them, and book visits directly. You pay per visit, by card, through Saheli.

Companions are independent people, not staff we send out. Each one has applied, been reviewed and interviewed by our team, and been accepted before anyone can find them. They set their own rates, choose which services they offer, and accept or decline each request.

What makes Saheli different is the match. You can look for a companion who speaks the language the person thinks in, and who knows their food, faith and customs, so nothing has to be explained from the beginning.

Search, connect, book

Arranging care happens in three stages, and you decide at each one.

1. Search. Add a care profile for the person receiving care, then search by service, language, community and location.
2. Connect. Message companions on Saheli to get to know them, with no obligation.
3. Book. See the full price, request a visit, and pay by card after the visit happens.

What Saheli is not

It helps to know what Saheli is not, because families often come to us expecting one of these:

• Not an agency. Nobody is assigned to you. You choose the companion, and you can choose a different one for any visit.
• Not a government program. It is a private, pay-per-visit service, and Saheli is not part of any government program.
• Not a subscription. There is no membership, contract or minimum number of visits. Creating an account is free.
• Not medical care, and not a replacement for a personal support worker or nurse.
• Not a ride service. A companion goes with the person, and you arrange the ride, or you travel together by transit, taxi or rideshare.
• Not an emergency service. In an emergency, call 911.

What you can book a companion for

There are nine services. Each companion offers the ones they choose, with a rate for each. The service's own page says exactly what it includes and what it does not.

• CompanionshipConversation, walks, games, and the small routines that make a day feel less alone.
• Meal preparationEveryday meals cooked in your own kitchen, to the taste the household is used to.
• ErrandsGrocery shopping, pharmacy pickups, and household errands, done for you or alongside you.
• Light housekeepingEveryday tidying, laundry, and dishes that keep a home comfortable to live in.
• AccompanimentA companion goes with you to appointments, errands, and visits. They never drive you: you arrange the ride, or you travel together by transit, taxi, or rideshare.
• Wellness and engagementHobbies, gentle activity, and community gatherings, so the week has something in it.
• Technology helpPatient help with smartphones, tablets, video calls, and the online services everyday life now runs on.
• Translation and communicationLanguage help with everyday conversations, letters, phone calls, and arrangements.
• Hospital-to-home recoveryNon-medical help around the house in the weeks after a hospital stay, while routines come back.

What a companion does not do

On every visit, whatever the service: Companions do not give medical or nursing care, administer medication, counsel or give advice, lift or transfer anyone, handle money or sign documents, or take on anything else that needs a regulated health professional. They can remind someone of a medication schedule the family has already set.

The languages companions speak

Every companion lists the languages they speak, and you can search by language. Between them, companions can list any of these:

• English
• French
• Cree
• Ojibwe
• Inuktitut
• Hindi
• Punjabi
• Urdu
• Gujarati
• Marathi
• Bengali
• Tamil
• Telugu
• Kannada
• Malayalam
• Mandarin
• Cantonese
• Korean
• Vietnamese
• Tagalog
• Arabic
• Farsi
• Somali
• Amharic
• Tigrinya
• Swahili
• Haitian Creole
• Spanish
• Portuguese
• Italian
• Polish
• Ukrainian
• Russian
• Greek

The communities companions serve

Companions also say which cultural communities they belong to or know well, and you can search by community:

• Indigenous
• South Asian
• Chinese
• Korean
• Vietnamese
• Filipino
• Middle Eastern
• African
• Caribbean
• Latin American
• European
• Multicultural

Where Saheli works

Saheli serves families across Ontario. Every companion lists their home city and how far they will travel, so many also cover the towns around them. The regions are:

• Toronto
• Peel
• York Region
• Durham
• Halton
• Hamilton and Niagara
• Waterloo and Wellington
• Southwestern Ontario
• Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
• Central and Northern Ontario

How the money works

Each companion sets their own hourly rate for each service. Saheli adds a service fee and any tax that applies, and you see the full price, line by line, before you confirm.

Payment runs through Saheli, so there is no cash to handle. Companions are paid into their own bank account each week for the visits they have completed.

If you want to work as a companion

Companions work for themselves, not for Saheli. There is no charge to apply or to be interviewed, and you do not need a nursing qualification or a car.

• Build your profile: your details, a photo, a bio, your languages and communities, your services and rates.
• Add documents if you have them. A criminal record check is optional; when you provide one, we check it and your profile shows a record-checked badge.
• Submit your profile. Our team reviews it and meets you for a short call.
• Once you are accepted, families can find you. You decide which requests to take.
• Set up payouts once, inside Saheli, and your earnings are paid to your bank each week.

Organizations

Hospitals, care homes, community groups, charities and employers can point the people they serve to Saheli. There are no organization accounts: to work with us, tell us what your organization needs on the Partner with Saheli page, and we will be in touch.

• Partner with SaheliTell us about your organization and what the people you serve need.

Where to go next

• Find a companionSearch by service, language, community and location.
• Become a companionWho can apply, and what the work involves.
• Government programsOntario programs families may want to explore. Saheli is not part of them.
• Common questionsShort answers to the questions we hear most.