Our Services

Yes — Puffin Services' hourly caregivers each have a clear police vulnerable sector check before their first shift and are directly employed by Puffin, not contractors. Pediatric specialists, once that service opens, will hold the same check and work under registered clinician supervision. Nanny Placement, which is coming soon, will work differently: Puffin will handle the vetting and placement, and the nanny will become your family's employee once placed.

Not for a Puffin Services caregiver. Our caregivers are our employees, we are registered with WorkSafeBC, and we pay the premiums, so a workplace injury during a shift sits with our coverage rather than with the family. A privately hired nanny is a different situation — the family is generally the employer, and WorkSafeBC coverage becomes their responsibility. Confirm your own position with WorkSafeBC before hiring anyone directly.

Puffin Services needs at least 24 hours for hourly bookings online, which is the window the booking form uses to match a caregiver and confirm the schedule. Same-day requests are not handled by the form, but the office can often arrange them by phone — call (604) 283-2829 rather than assuming the answer is no. Nanny Placement, which is coming soon, will be a longer process: your profile will be reviewed within one business day and matched candidates will arrive within 7–10 business days.

No. Puffin Services charges the same rate on a Saturday, a statutory holiday, and a Tuesday. The only things that change an hourly childcare rate are whether an infant under 12 months is present and whether hours fall in the overnight window between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM. There is no weekend premium and no holiday surcharge.

Not at the time of booking. Puffin Services authorizes a hold on your card for the booked total when you book, and captures it after the care session is completed. If circumstances change what is owed, we tell you before charging anything beyond the authorized amount.

It is the shortest shift Puffin Services books, not a minimum you have to use. A two-hour errand is billed as three hours, so standard childcare works out at $96 and infant care at $114. Anything longer is billed by the hour from there.

Online, start to finish, at whatever hour suits you. Choose the service, the city, the date and the hours, tell us anything specific about your family, and pay on the site — there is no phone call, no callback and no waiting on a quote before you know the price. Hourly childcare, postpartum support, senior and adult support and event nannies all work this way, and nanny placement will too once it opens. Pediatric support is the exception: SLPA, OTA, behaviour intervention and autism respite are enquiry-only for now, and those pages say so. A phone line is there if you would rather use it — (604) 283-2829 — but nothing requires it.