ABOUT PAT

Pat M. Irwin – Founder & President, ElderCareCanada

Pat Irwin enjoyed a long and successful career in financial services – banking, trust and systems consulting – in Canada and the US. When her dad became ill in 1997 and her mom could no longer care for him, there were so few choices that after three months in a nursing home, her dad was dead. First she got mad, then she got busy, and founded ElderCareCanada, a consulting service assisting adult children in dealing with aging parents.

Specialty

Her specialty is effectively managing the family dynamic between seniors, their adult children and adult siblings.

She builds on her consulting and service-quality training in developing strategies with families so they can plan together to get things done, including in-home care, housing options, relocation assistance, absentee care management, and strategies for long-term care, estates, Wills and funerals. Another specialty area is elder care mediation, and expert opinions for families undergoing mediation and litigation regarding elder care costs and effort.

Education

Education includes a BA from the University of Toronto, Associate of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (AICB), Certified Senior Advisor (CSA/CPCA) designation, and certificate in mediation from the Faculty of Law, University of Windsor.

She also offers onsite lectures and Webinars on eldercare topics and supports corporate Employee Assistance Programs as well as her private practice.

In the Media

Media includes print and on-line publications in trade publication such as Caregiver Solutions Magazine, Help’s Here, Dialogue and Comfort Life; she has been quoted in The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business Magazine, The Globe and Mail Report on Business, Macleans and Canadian Business magazine. Radio includes Classical 96.3fm, and CBC Radio including Fresh Air, The Current and Definitely not the Opera. Television includes Discovery Health television, CTV’s Canadian Business Television and Comfort Live TV, as well as numerous ‘expert opinion’ spots for news stations.

Pat is a Professor of Distance Learning at Centennial College, developing and teaching several courses in the Retirement Communities Management (RCMC) designation offered by the Ontario Retirement Communities Association (ORCA).

Personal Interests

Personal interests include a 30+ career as a singer, board member and volunteer fundraiser with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, as well as tenures on boards of the Mendelssohn Choir, Orchestra Toronto, the Saint Elizabeth Foundation, and the volunteer committee of St. Michael’s Hospital.