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Housesitting in Canada: Top Homeowner Guide
When it comes to protecting your property and keeping pets happy while you travel, housesitting in Canada has become the ultimate stress-free alternative to costly kennels and risky vacant homes. From avoiding frozen pipes to ensuring your homeowner’s insurance policy isn’t voided by your absence, a live-in sitter takes care of everything. Read on for a complete homeowner‘s guide to navigating insurance rules, understanding legal requirements, and finding a trusted sitter so you can truly relax on your next holiday.
Key Takeaways for Canadian Homeowners
- Protect Your Home Insurance: Standard Canadian policies often void coverage if a house is unoccupied for more than a few days (or 24–48 hours in heating season). By considering housesitting in Canada you can help yourself. A housesitter ensures continuous occupation so your policy stays valid.
- Avoid Municipal Fines: Local bylaws require timely sidewalk snow clearing in winter and lawn care in summer. A live-in sitter keeps your property compliant while you’re away.
- Better Pet Care, Lower Costs: Avoid expensive kennel fees and separation anxiety by keeping your pets in their home routine under dedicated supervision.
- Verify CBSA Rules for Foreign Sitters: Unpaid housesitting can be categorized as work under Canadian immigration rules. Ensure international sitters hold valid work authorization or dual citizenship before booking.
- Prevent Catastrophic Damage: Live-in sitters provide immediate damage control during cold-weather furnace outages, pipe bursts, or storm damage, saving thousands in unclaimable losses.
Homeowner’s Guide to Housesitting in Canada: Insurance Rules, Legal Status & Sitter Vetting
Going on holiday is all about relaxing and getting away from it all. Pack your bags. Lock the door. Off you go. And a few weeks later, you return to your home sweet home.
But what happens if a pipe starts leaking while you’re away? Or someone breaks in? Or there’s a fire? Or worse? You’ve got insurance, right? Maybe you need to find a housesitter in Canada to care for your home and pets while you’re away.
Photo credit – Ahmed Abbas
And what about your pets? Maybe you can leave Fluffy with your kind neighbour. If you’ve got a dog, you can always bring them along, depending where you’re going. But if you’re flying or going on an extended trip, you might need to board or kennel your pets. Easy, sure. But it can be expensive and stressful for your animals.
For many Canadian homeowners, there is a better, less stressful option: Housesitting.
Is Housesitting in Canada a Growing Trend?
Photo courtesy of Doug Murray
Housesitting in Canada isn’t new. For decades, Canadian homeowners from British Columbia to Newfoundland have used professional sitters to watch over their homes and pets. But it was always under the radar. These days, word has gotten out, and housesitting has exploded across the country. The landscape and scenery across the entire country is a major attraction.
Photo courtesy of Doug Murray
Why Should I Find a Housesitter in Canada?
Peace of mind is the main reason. It’s comforting to know that someone is looking after your house and animals. Plants are getting watered, the lawn is getting mowed, the driveway is getting shoveled, and if something unpredictable happens, there’s someone there to deal with it.
Photo credit – Doug Murray
Will My Canadian Insurance Policy Cover Me When I’m Away?
Calamity can strike when you’re away. As a housesitter, and in particular when I am housesitting in Canada, I know first hand that things can go south. Everything from seasonal storms and power outages to water leaks and break-ins. If you carry homeowner’s insurance, you may think you’re protected from disaster. But that may not be the case, especially if you’re away for more than a few days. Do check your policy.
Whether you’re in Montreal or Winnipeg or anywhere else in Canada, you should check with your insurer to be sure, but in most cases in Canada, standard policies limit or end coverage after a fixed period of time. That means that you lose some or all of your coverage if you breach the conditions of your policy. If you aren’t aware of, or fail to comply with the terms of your agreement, and something happens, you can be on the hook for the costs of repairs.
And they can add up fast.
Photo credit – TungArt7
Housesitting and Home Insurance Canada
An example: A few years ago, I was housesitting in Canada on one of British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. I was just a few weeks into a month’s-long sit when, one night, I was awoken by a whooshing noise. I hopped out of bed, rubbing my eyes, wondering what it could be.
The noise was coming from the bathroom. Not a good sign. And when I walked through the door, I saw why. The feeder hose to the toilet tank had broken, and water was spraying everywhere. I quickly shut it off, but a significant amount of water flooded the bathroom and adjacent areas.
If I hadn’t been there, the house would have been completely flooded, and the cost of repairs would have been astronomical. Even in this case, a small amount of water damaged the flooring and drywall, requiring weeks of repairs and renovations. But because someone was in the house when the leak occurred, the damage was limited. More importantly, the insurance company covered the claim. Not only that, the homeowners had someone on site (me) to deal with tradespeople while they continued to enjoy their holiday.
Many Canadian homeowner insurance policies also contain strict rules covering the heating season. Depending on the insurer, unoccupied homes may require inspection every few days (sometimes every 24 hours) to verify the heating system is working, ensuring pipes don’t freeze. These are good reasons to find a housesitter in Canada. With a housesitter, your home is considered occupied, and coverage remains the same.
Ready to travel with total peace of mind?
Don’t leave your home vacant or allow your pets to get stressed out in a kennel. Consider them safer and more comfortable at home in a familiar environment with a sitter caring for them.
What Else Do I Need To Be Aware Of?
In addition to watching over your home, housesitters in Canada take care of typical chores that need to be done while you’re away. That means things like shovelling in the winter and mowing in the summer.
Photo credit – Doug Murray
Many Canadian cities and municipalities require homeowners to clear public sidewalks outside their homes. If you’re not home to shovel, you could face fines and penalties for violating these bylaws. The same applies in the summer, as many jurisdictions require homeowners to maintain their lawns.
In both cases, if you find a housesitter in Canada it will help you ensure these chores are dealt with, and you won’t return home to a messy yard and a big fine.
Photo credit – Doug Murray
Is Housesitting Better for Your Pets?
Our pets are more than companions, they’re members of the family. So when you go away for any more than a few days, you have a decision to make. Do you bring your pets with you or do you kennel them?
Pet Sitter vs Kennels Canada
Kennelling is fine for a few days, but if you’re thinking about kennelling multiple pets for an extended period, you’re looking at a serious expense. The cost of kennelling is one thing, but you also have to consider the mental health and general wellbeing of your pets. They’re going to miss you when you’re gone. And long absences can cause pets’ separation anxiety. Adding an unfamiliar kennel experience can be overwhelming.
When a pet sitter stays in your home, your pets have supervision, companionship, and structure, all in a familiar environment. Not only is it far less stressful, but a sitter can keep a close eye on special feeding requirements and administering medications. If there is an emergency, the sitter can take your animals to the vet and care for them afterwards.
And don’t forget your own separation anxiety! Your sitter can send regular photos and videos of your pets and even set up a video call no matter how far away you are.
Photo credit – Arabella Brown
What About Plant Babies?
In addition to yard work, a sitter can take care of your plants. And not only your indoor plants. If you have gardens, you can make arrangements with a sitter to water and keep an eye on things. If your garden requires extra work or specific tending, look for a sitter who has gardening skills.
Additional Benefits for Canadian Homeowners
Sitters provide more than just pet and house care, which can be especially important for any housesitting in Canada. They take care of all those little chores and tasks while you’re away. This includes collecting your mail. Your sitter can let you know what comes in and, if it’s something important from your bank or the Canada Revenue Agency, with your permission, they can open it and forward the details. This is far better than the cost and hassle of the post office holding or forwarding your mail. Your sitter can also receive packages on your behalf, reducing the chance of something being returned or having a porch pirate intercept a delivery.
The same goes for phone calls. A sitter is there to answer your phone, take messages, and can forward important information. It’s another way that your home appears occupied, even when you’re far away.
Photo credit – Doug Murray
Sitters can even perform minor car maintenance like keeping the battery charged and the tires inflated. This is especially important during cold Canadian winters! Not only do housesitters make your home look lived in, they protect it, keep it clean, and make sure your pets are loved.
Where do I start to find a housesitter in Canada?
A great place to connect with sitters is a reliable housesitting website like HouseSit Match. It’s a great place to learn about housesitting, from the nuts and bolts of sitting to how to find and vet a housesitter no matter where in Canada you are.
Photo credit – Doug Murray
Housesitter Legal Requirements Canada
The Paperwork for Housesitting in Canada
If you’re considering sitters who aren’t Canadian citizens, be aware that if a payment is made housesitting may be considered employment and a work permit may be required. This is especially important if you’re engaging housesitters who are travelling to Canada specifically to house sit. If they’re dual citizens, hold the appropriate permit, or are already in the country and legally entitled to work, then no problem. Check with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) if you have any doubts.
For Canadian homeowners, whe you find a housesitter in Canada who does not charge, is a cost-effective way to ensure your pets and property are cared for, while remaining compliant with relevant laws and your homeowner’s insurance policy.
BIO
Doug Murray is an avid housesitter and remote worker who explores the world one pet-sit at a time. When he isn’t walking dogs on remote Scottish islands, you can find him planning his next island escape.
FURTHER READING
At Housesit Match we like to share useful blogs such as this one on housesitting in Canada and how to find a housesitter. We hope you find this small selection of our blogs on house sitters useful.
My First House Sitting Experience
Housesitter’s Guide to Buckinghamshire UK
My housesit in Scotland Musselburgh
Housesitters keep pets safe at home and save money
