Canada lags behind Britain and Australia in the amount of funding it gives to people caring for sick relatives, a new study says.

"Most government support in Canada is provided at the provincial level and is aimed at the people who need the care, not those who look after them," lead researcher Janice Keefe told CBC News Online.

Many caregivers incur financial expenses or have to stop working to help loved ones.

Currently at the national level in Canada, caregivers only have access to tax relief that amounts to about $600 a year and a short-term paid work leave to provide palliative care. A program under employment insurance pays up to 58 per cent of a salary, but just for six weeks and is limited to immediate family members of the ill.

"We're moving in the right direction, but we sure aren't there yet," said Keefe, the Canada research chair in aging and caregiving policy at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax.

In Australia and Britain, caregivers are directly paid a certain amount of money, based on need. Britain also recently introduced a state pension for low or no-income caregivers.

Australia pays its caregivers about $90 a week and those who show they are poor receive $460 every two weeks.

Keefe's report recommended that Canada should also study the systems used in Germany and Norway.

"We're behind Western Europe in broad innovative strategies," said Keefe, suggesting the reason was because those countries have had more experience dealing with an older population when compared to Canada. "But we're ahead of the United States, particularly in our labour policies."

France, Sweden and Israel were also part of the 10-country study, which was funded by the Canadian government.

Part of the problem in Canada is convincing provinces, which are responsible for delivering health care, to look after the caregivers too.

Among Canada's provinces, Quebec has shown the greatest focus on care giving. New Brunswick's invasive process for caregivers to qualify for assistance puts it at the other end of the scale, Keefe said. One route could be to earmark federal funds for caregiver support on the provincial level.

"Canada should consider a model that provides immediate and long-term financial support for caregivers," Keefe said. The next step is to examine in greater detail how these policies [in other countries] are administered and whether they will work for Canada."

Keefe also supported Ottawa's recent move to name a minister of state for families and caregivers.

"There seems to be a desire to develop policy, if not the money at this point," she said.