If a case manager, a discharge planner or a friend has just said the letters “CDHCI” to you, you are probably somewhere between hopeful and confused. Hopeful, because it sounds like help paying for home care. Confused, because the CDHCI Alberta program is explained in handbooks written for the system, not for a tired family at a kitchen table. This is the step-by-step version: who assesses you, how hours are approved, how you name Alberta Maple Care as your provider, and what your family actually pays.

One honest note before we start. Alberta Maple Care is a registered CDHCI provider, so we have a stake in this topic. Every program fact below comes from the official client handbook and the September 2026 program brochure, both linked at the end, and we have stated the money plainly, including the part where you still pay something.

What CDHCI is, in one paragraph

Client Directed Home Care Invoicing (CDHCI) is a way of receiving publicly funded home care in Alberta. Instead of being assigned an agency, you choose one from the list registered with Alberta Blue Cross, and it delivers your care up to a monthly maximum of hours set by your case manager. The agency bills Alberta Blue Cross for its share of each approved hour; you pay the balance. Assisted Living Alberta (the home care authority, formerly Alberta Health Services) assesses you and approves the hours; Alberta Blue Cross administers the program and pays the claims.

It is not Self-Managed Care, where funds come to you and you become the employer. Under CDHCI you employ no one; the paperwork flows between the agency and Alberta Blue Cross. The handbook calls the agency a “type 3” home and community care provider, which is why you will sometimes see CDHCI called Type 3 care.

Step 1 — Get a home care assessment

Everything starts with an assessment, and nothing about CDHCI can happen before it. Call Health Link at 811 and ask about a home care assessment. No referral is needed, and a family member, friend or health professional can call for you. You need a valid Alberta Health Care number. You do not need an Alberta Blue Cross plan of any kind; the program is open to anyone a case manager assesses as needing home care.

A case manager works through what help is needed and builds a care plan. The eligibility rules are the same whichever way the care is delivered: a service that would not be approved under the regular home care program is not approved under CDHCI either. Coming home from hospital? The discharge team can start this. Already a home care client? You have a case manager, so skip to step 2.

Step 2 — Ask your case manager about CDHCI

CDHCI is one of several ways your approved care can be delivered, and if you do not raise it, it may not come up. Ask directly. The handbook lists what the case manager weighs:

You are eligible for home and community care, as determined by the assessment.
In collaboration with your case manager, CDHCI is judged a suitable way to deliver your care.
It creates no conflict with another policy or service agreement.
Your level of service is predictable from month to month (exceptions can be made for palliative and pediatric clients).
You, or the person managing CDHCI for you, are willing and able to take on the responsibilities that come with it: directing the care, monitoring it, and keeping a backup plan.

If CDHCI fits, the case manager gives you a service care plan that lists the maximum hours of care per month you are approved for, and tells you the hourly rate the program will pay. Two things to know about those hours. First, the case manager is the only person who decides them; no provider, including us, can tell you how many hours you might get, and we never estimate. Second, they are a monthly maximum that resets on the first of each month; unused hours do not carry over.

Step 3 — Sign three documents

CDHCI runs on paperwork that is short but specific. Your case manager prepares it.

Consent to Disclose Information. Lets Assisted Living Alberta share your name, date of birth, health care number, contact details and approved hours with Alberta Blue Cross. A spouse or relative can manage CDHCI for you (the CDHCI manager); if somebody other than you signs this form, proof of their legal authority is needed.
Letter of Agreement. The terms and responsibilities of the program. CDHCI is not in effect until it is signed and returned; keep a copy.
Approval letter from Alberta Blue Cross. It confirms your authorized hours, the start date of your approval period, the hourly rate the program pays, and your Alberta Blue Cross customer number, which your provider needs in order to bill. The handbook says to contact your case manager if it has not arrived within two weeks of signing the Letter of Agreement.

Step 4 — Choose Alberta Maple Care as your provider

The choice of provider is yours alone: Assisted Living Alberta is not affiliated with any provider and does not evaluate their care, and the contract is between you (or your CDHCI manager) and the agency you name. Alberta Maple Care is a registered CDHCI provider for the Calgary zone, so if you are reading this on our website the next step is simple: tell your case manager you have chosen Alberta Maple Care. We complete the Letter of Agreement with you, a Registered Nurse writes the care plan, and we bill Alberta Blue Cross directly for every approved hour.

The client handbook lists the questions a family should put to any provider before signing. Here they are, with our answers:

Who is the main point of contact, and how are caregiver schedules decided and communicated? A named care coordinator and the Registered Nurse who wrote your plan. Schedules are agreed with you at the start and confirmed before each week; changes come to you, never the other way round.
Are the staff trained to provide the care that has been authorized? Yes. Caregivers are matched to what your plan authorizes, the first visits are shadowed by an LPN or RN, and the nurse reviews the plan as needs change.
What is the hourly rate, and what will you pay yourself? Our rates are published: $37.50 per hour in the daytime and $39 overnight, within Calgary city limits. On an approved hour, Alberta Blue Cross pays $35.03 and you pay the balance, $2.47 in the daytime or $3.97 overnight. There is no assessment fee, and visits are a minimum of 3 hours.
Can you check references? Yes, on request, at the free visit.
What happens when a caregiver is away? Every CDHCI client is expected to have a backup plan for provider absences. Ours is built in: one main caregiver and one backup the family has already met.

Your case manager stays your contact for the overall care plan throughout, and the choice stays yours: a family already receiving care elsewhere can move to Alberta Maple Care at any time by telling their case manager (see switching to CDHCI).

Step 5 — Care starts, and here is how the money works

Once you have your customer number and a signed agreement with your provider, care can begin. From then on:

The provider submits claims to Alberta Blue Cross within 60 days of each visit, up to your monthly maximum. You never file a claim and never pay up front for approved hours.
For each approved hour, Alberta Blue Cross pays the provider $35.03. Since 1 October 2026 that rate applies to every service, including visits on weekends and statutory holidays. The rate is set by the program and changes over time.
You pay the difference between that amount and the provider’s hourly rate. At our published rates of $37.50/hour daytime and $39/hour overnight, within Calgary city limits, the balance on an approved hour works out to $2.47 daytime and $3.97 overnight. Outside the city boundary, care is confirmed case by case.
Your provider must give you a copy of each claim statement, so you can see exactly what was billed to the program and what was billed to you.

Approved hours are heavily subsidized, but they are not free, and anyone who tells you otherwise is skipping a step. The honest version of the “free” claim is narrow: clients with 100+ approved CDHCI hours a month may qualify for $0 out-of-pocket, case by case, discussed with our intake officer at intake. One real exception exists for families moving from an assigned (Type 2) agency: see our offer for families switching to Alberta Maple Care, and its terms.

What the hours can cover, and what they never cover

Your care plan decides, and it can include three kinds of service: personal care (hygiene, dressing, toileting, moving and transferring, medication assistance), homemaking (health-related tasks in your immediate living space; never a stand-alone service, always alongside personal care or respite) and respite (day, evening or night care so an unpaid caregiver gets a real break). Nursing and other professional health visits are not part of CDHCI and continue through the home care program alongside.

The program never pays for hours beyond your monthly maximum, for the part of a rate above the program rate, or for anything that is not direct care: statutory-holiday premiums, overtime, mileage, travel time, late or cancellation fees, supplies or equipment, or a minimum call-out beyond the care approved. It does not cover care bought before your approval starts, days you are in hospital or in a facility respite bed, or care outside Alberta. Whatever a provider charges from that list is billed to you, which is why a flat published rate matters.

Keeping it running

Funding is put on hold while you are in hospital or a facility respite bed, if the annual reassessment is missed, or if more than 30 days pass with no provider hired; during a hold your monthly maximum is reduced day by day. Tell your case manager about any change in condition, a hospital stay, time away, or a change of address or CDHCI manager; you can stop CDHCI at any time the same way. Need care before the paperwork clears? Start private-pay care now and pursue CDHCI in parallel; nothing bought before the approval date is reimbursed. If this week is the problem, see urgent home care.

Where to start

Already assessed? Our CDHCI page has a one-minute eligibility check. Receiving care from an assigned agency and want to choose your own? Switching to CDHCI explains the conversation with your case manager. Starting from zero? Call 811 for the assessment, and call us with questions at . We reply within one business day, the first in-home visit with a nurse is free with no obligation, and we will tell you honestly if CDHCI is not the right fit. Book a free visit when you are ready.

Sources

Alberta Health Services, Client Directed Home Care Invoicing — Client Handbook (August 2024): eligibility, documents, covered and non-covered services, holds and changes.
Assisted Living Alberta, Client Directed Home Care Invoicing brochure (updated September 2026): eligibility and participant expectations.
Alberta Blue Cross, Client Directed Home Care program page; and the September 2026 provider bulletin on the 1 October 2026 rate and the provider information now shown on the list.
Government of Alberta, How to access continuing care (read 18 October 2026): the 811 step and the assessment.

This guide is general information. CDHCI eligibility, services and hours are decided by Assisted Living Alberta; Alberta Blue Cross administers the program and its rates, which can change over time. Your case manager is the authority on what applies to you.

CDHCI Alberta: how to apply, step by step — a guide for families