about pat irwin

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, she had so few choices that after three months in a nursing home, her dad died alone.

First she got mad, then she got busy, and in 1999 founded WorkingWomen+, renamed ElderCareCanada in 2005, as a consulting service design to assist adult children in dealing with aging parents. The death of her mother in 2005, in a wonderful retirement home surrounded by love and support, confirmed the value of experience and further strengthened her commitment to eldercare. Pat has helped hundreds of families manage the challenges of this transition.

She focuses on developing strategies with families so they can plan together to get things done, including in-home care, housing options, assistance with moving, absentee care management, and strategies for long-term care, estates, Wills and funerals.

ElderCareCanada supports corporate Employee Assistance Programs and has presented the seminar series,” ElderCare 101”, to corporate clients including BMO Harris, Swiss ReInsurance, McDougal McDougal & McTier, Clarica, and the Private Banking divisions of the major Canadian banks.

She has been quoted in the Globe & Mail’s, Canadian Business and Your Money Magazine; publications including regular articles in Solutions Magazine and Dialogue Magazine as well as articles and “Ask the Expert” in the directory Help’s Here (Premium Publishing Corp.).Media appearances include Discovery Health Channel TV’s “Health on the Line”, Classical 96.3fm and the live phone-in USA-based Internet radio program, “Coping with Caregiving”, CBC 1’s Andy Barrie Show, as well as numerous speaking engagements. She is listed in Who’s Who of Canadian Women (Canadian Business Media Ltd.) and has served on the board of directors for the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the St. Elizabeth Health Care Foundation. In her spare time, Pat is a 20+ year singer with The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Mendelssohn Singers.