Every summer, a wave of Canadian families decides it’s time to hire a nanny.
For some, it’s been building all year: a daycare waitlist that hasn’t moved, a work schedule that doesn’t pause for summer, a parent returning from leave. For others, it’s more sudden: school ends, camps fall through, and the need becomes urgent almost overnight.
Whatever brought you here, the instinct to act quickly makes sense. But the families who tend to have the best experiences with a first hire — and the ones who build lasting relationships with great caregivers — are usually the ones who slowed down just enough to ask themselves some honest questions first.
Not about the candidate. About themselves.
Here’s what’s worth thinking through before you post a job, conduct an interview, or make an offer.
Do you actually know what you need or just what you think you need?
This sounds obvious. It rarely is.
Most families start with a job title — “summer nanny” — and a rough schedule. But the gap between what families think they need and what they actually need once someone is working in their home is one of the most common sources of friction in household employment.
Ask yourself:
- Is this genuinely a childcare role, or do you also need help with household tasks, driving, meal prep, or other responsibilities?
- Are the hours you’re planning truly realistic, or are they based on an optimistic version of your summer schedule?
- Is this a fixed, predictable arrangement, or are you expecting flexibility that you haven’t explicitly built into the role?
A caregiver who is hired for one thing and gradually expected to do another isn’t just an inconvenience. It’s an employment issue. A change in the scope of the employment expectations leads to dissatisfaction, turnover, and sometimes legal complications.
Being specific about what you need before you hire saves everyone time and protects the relationship from the start.
Are you prepared to be an employer, not just a client?
This is the question most families haven’t fully sat with.
Hiring a nanny is not the same as hiring a house cleaner who comes twice a month when available, or a contractor who does a job and leaves. From the moment your caregiver starts work, you are a legal employer in Canada, with obligations that exist regardless of whether you’ve thought them through.
That means:
- You are responsible for deducting and remitting income tax, CPP, and EI to the CRA from the very first paycheque
- You owe the employer’s share of CPP and EI contributions on top of your caregiver’s wages; it comes out of your budget, not theirs
- Vacation pay accrues from day one
- Provincial employment standards around overtime, rest periods, notice of termination, and more, apply to your household
None of this is meant to be intimidating. Hundreds of thousands of Canadian families manage it successfully. But going in with the mindset of an employer, rather than a client purchasing a service, changes how you approach the entire relationship, from the hiring conversation to the daily dynamic, to what happens if things don’t work out.
Have you thought about what happens when summer ends?
Summer nanny arrangements have a built-in complication that year-round arrangements don’t: they end.
That ending needs to be planned for, not just logistically, but from an employment standards perspective.
If your caregiver’s role ends in August or September, you are required to provide appropriate notice (the end date could be in the written contract) or pay in lieu of notice, depending on how long they’ve been employed and what your province requires. You also need to issue a Record of Employment (ROE) to Service Canada. This is what allows your caregiver to access Employment Insurance benefits if they need it. It’s a legal requirement that many first-time employers simply don’t know exists.
The time to think about this is before you hire, not the week the arrangement ends. Being clear upfront about the term of the role, and building the offboarding obligations into your planning, means there are no surprises for either party.
Is your home actually set up for someone to work in it?
Practically speaking, having someone work in your home full-time over the summer (and potentially beyond) is different from having someone drop in for a few hours here and there.
A few things worth thinking through before day one:
Privacy and space. Where will your caregiver keep their belongings they bring along for the day? Is there a clear distinction between the parts of the home that are their workspace and the parts that are private family space? These boundaries don’t need to be rigid, but they need to exist.
Emergency information. Does your caregiver have everything they need to handle an unexpected situation? That means medical information for the children or person in their care, emergency contacts beyond just you, knowledge of where basic supplies are, and clarity on what decisions they’re empowered to make independently.
Communication rhythms. How will you stay in touch during the day? What’s the expectation around responding to messages, giving updates, or flagging concerns? Families who define this upfront, rather than letting it develop organically, tend to have far fewer misunderstandings.
Are you being realistic about what this person will earn and what it will cost you?
Nanny wages in Canada have risen steadily in recent years. In major cities, experienced caregivers often command $20 to $25 per hour or more (gross; before taxes are deducted), depending on their background and the responsibilities involved.
Before you post a job listing, it’s worth doing the full math:
- What gross hourly or weekly wage are you prepared to offer?
- Have you added the employer’s share of CPP and EI, roughly 7.5 to 8 percent on top of gross wages?
- Have you accounted for WCB premiums if they are required in your province?
- Have you factored in vacation pay, typically a minimum of 4 percent of gross wages per province? (Check with provincial standards as this varies by province)
- If hours are irregular over summer, have you built in a buffer for weeks that are heavier than expected?
Setting a budget that reflects the true cost of employment, not just the take-home wage, means you won’t be caught off guard by the first payroll calculation.
It also means you won’t inadvertently lowball a candidate and lose them to a family that did the math properly.
Are you prepared for the relationship to take some time to find its footing?
Even the best hire takes time to settle in. Your caregiver is new to your home, your children, your routines, and your preferences. You’re new to having someone work in your space.
The families who navigate this transition best tend to share a few habits:
They communicate proactively rather than reactively, sharing changes to the schedule in advance, not the morning of. They check in early, have a conversation after the first week or two to ask how things are going, on both sides. And they give feedback directly and promptly, rather than letting small things accumulate into bigger frustrations.
None of this requires a formal HR process. It just requires treating the working relationship with the same intentionality you’d want applied to your own workplace.
So — are you ready?
If working through these questions has surfaced some things you hadn’t thought about, that’s a good sign, not a bad one. It means you’re approaching this with the seriousness it deserves.
The families who take a little time to think through these things before they hire tend to build arrangements that last. And the caregivers who work for those families tend to stay, perform well, and genuinely invest in the people they’re caring for.
Getting the administrative side right is part of being ready. But so is the mindset.
If you’re thinking about hiring this summer and want to make sure the payroll and compliance side is handled properly from day one, NannyTax is here to help. We’ve been supporting first-time household employers across Canada since 2006.
Reach out before your caregiver’s first day. It’s always easier to start right than to fix things later!
Or call us at: 1.877.626.6982