What the benefit pays for
The attendant care benefit reimburses the cost of paid help with the personal-care tasks an injured person can no longer manage on their own — bathing, dressing, toileting, feeding, mobility, supervision, and basic household routines tied to personal care.
It is defined in section 19 of the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (O. Reg. 34/10). The need, the hours, and the rates are documented on a Form 1 (Assessment of Attendant Care Needs), completed by a qualified health professional. The Form 1 sets a monthly dollar figure based on standard hourly rates and required hours of care.
You then submit ongoing claims for actual care delivered, typically on an OCF-6 (Expenses Claim Form), with receipts. The carrier reimburses you up to the Form 1 monthly amount, capped by the SABS limit that applies to your injury severity.
The two monthly caps — and why the pool matters
Under current SABS, the monthly cap is $3,000 for non-catastrophic injuries, payable for up to five years from the date of the accident. For catastrophic impairment, the monthly cap is $6,000 and the benefit is payable for life.
The number that catches most people off guard is that attendant care, medical, and rehabilitation share a single combined pool: about $65,000 for non-catastrophic and $1,000,000 for catastrophic. Every dollar spent on physiotherapy, assistive devices, or attendant care draws against the same balance. On a serious non-catastrophic file, that $65,000 ceiling can come into view well before the five-year window ends.
This is why families with seriously injured loved ones sometimes have to choose, in practice, between paying for more therapy and paying for more hours of in-home care.
Who can be paid as the attendant
A professional attendant (a personal support worker, registered nurse, or licensed agency) can be paid up to the SABS hourly rates without restriction beyond the Form 1 and the monthly cap.
A family member or friend can also be paid, but only if they suffered an "economic loss" — typically meaning they took unpaid time off work, gave up a paid job, or otherwise lost income to provide the care. Without documented economic loss, the family caregiver’s hours generally aren’t reimbursable. This is one of the most-disputed elements of any attendant care file.
How the benefit interacts with the 2026 reform
The July 1, 2026 SABS reform moves four benefits from mandatory to optional: the income replacement benefit, the non-earner benefit, the caregiver benefit, and the housekeeping and home maintenance benefit. Attendant care is not on that list — it remains mandatory on every Ontario auto policy.
What the reform does change is the surrounding bundle. Drivers who opt down on optional benefits may find that attendant care is doing more of the heavy lifting after a serious injury, because some of the support that used to come from caregiver or housekeeping benefits is no longer there.
How to make a claim hold up
Get a Form 1 completed early. Without one, the monthly amount the carrier owes is undefined, and reimbursement requests stall. Update the Form 1 as the injury evolves — the level of care needed three weeks post-accident is rarely the level needed six months in.
Keep contemporaneous records: timesheets, receipts, employment loss documentation for any family caregiver, and clinical notes that connect the level of care to the injury. Disputes that end up at the Licence Appeal Tribunal almost always turn on documentation, not on whether the benefit was technically owed.
Frequently asked
Can a family member be paid as my attendant?
Yes, but only if they incurred an economic loss to provide the care — for example, by taking unpaid time off work or giving up paid employment. Without documented economic loss, hours provided by a family member generally are not reimbursable, even if the care is necessary and well-delivered. This is one of the most heavily-disputed parts of SABS attendant care claims.
Does the attendant care monthly cap reset each year?
The monthly cap is a per-month ceiling on reimbursement — it does not roll over if unused. Separately, the benefit draws against the combined SABS pool (about $65,000 combined medical/rehab/AC for non-catastrophic, $1,000,000 for catastrophic). Once that pool is exhausted, no further attendant care is payable even if you are still within the five-year time window (or, for catastrophic, your lifetime entitlement).
Is the attendant care benefit changing under the 2026 reform?
No. Attendant care remains mandatory on every Ontario auto policy under the July 1, 2026 SABS reform. The benefits that become optional are income replacement, non-earner, caregiver, and housekeeping & home maintenance.
What if I disagree with the Form 1 assessment?
You can request a reassessment or commission an independent Form 1 from another qualified health professional. If the carrier denies coverage based on its own assessment, you have the right to written reasons and a path to dispute the denial through the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT).