What Babysitters Cost in Saskatoon
There is no single answer, because "babysitter" covers three quite different things at three quite different prices. This page lays out all three honestly, including where we sit and why, so you can decide what you actually want rather than just comparing hourly numbers.
The three tiers
- Casual teenage sitters - roughly $15 to $18 an hour. Usually a neighbour's daughter or a friend of the family. Fine for two hours on a Friday with school-age children who are already asleep. Rarely certified, almost never insured, and if they are sick on the night you have no fallback.
- Experienced adult sitters hired privately - roughly $20 to $25 an hour. More capable, often with real childcare experience. The catch is administrative rather than practical: pay an individual directly to work in your home in Canada and you may become their employer in the eyes of the law, with payroll and liability obligations attached.
- Agency sitters - roughly $28 to $32 an hour. Certified, screened, insured, with a backup when someone is ill. The premium is not margin; it is what those things cost.
Saskatchewan's minimum wage sets the floor under all of this, and it applies to babysitters. Paying below it is not a bargain, it is illegal.
Where the agency rate actually goes
This is the part nobody explains, so here it is plainly. When you pay an agency $28 an hour, the sitter does not receive $28.
- The sitter's wage
- Employer contributions - CPP, EI, vacation pay - roughly 18% on top of the wage
- Commercial liability insurance
- CPR, Standard First Aid and Food Safe certification, renewed on a cycle
- Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector screening for every caregiver
- Scheduling, and the named backup sitter who covers illness
Strip those out and you are back to a private sitter with the risk sitting on you. That is a legitimate choice - plenty of families make it - but it should be made knowingly.
Our rates in full
- $28 per hour - one child, two-hour minimum
- $25 per hour - recurring weekly schedule of eight hours or more (see our part-time nanny service)
- $30 per hour - overnight, waking hours, with a reduced flat rate while children sleep
- +$4 per hour - each additional sibling, maximum four children per sitter
- +$3 per hour - hours after 9pm
- 1.5x - statutory holidays, booked a week ahead
- +$15 flat - same-day booking, subject to availability
- Free - the meet-and-greet, twenty minutes in your home, no obligation
- No registration fee, membership fee or contract
Warman and Martensville carry a flat $12 travel charge. Elsewhere outside city limits is $0.55 per kilometre.
A worked example
A Saturday date night, two children, 6pm to 11pm - five hours, of which two fall after 9pm.
Base $28, plus $4 for the second child, is $32 an hour. Three hours at $32 is $96. Two hours after 9pm at $35 is $70. Total $166. Quoted before you book, and it does not move afterwards.
What is included at every rate
Meals and snacks prepared by a Food Safe certified sitter, homework help, bath and bedtime routine followed exactly as you run it, tidy-up before we leave - dishes done, toys away, living room reset - and a message afterwards telling you how it went.
The tidy-up is not an add-on and it is not optional. It comes from the cleaning side of the business.
How to compare fairly
If you are weighing a $20 private sitter against our $28, the honest comparison is not $8. Ask any sitter these three questions:
- Can I see your current CPR, First Aid and Food Safe certificates?
- Can I see your Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector screening?
- If you are sick on Friday, what happens?
A good private sitter may answer the first two. Almost nobody can answer the third.
Other rates you may be comparing
For senior care, our non-medical home care starts at $32 per hour and senior housekeeping at the same. The full breakdown, including recurring and overnight rates, is in our senior care cost guide. For house cleaning, flat rates by home size are in the Saskatoon cleaning cost guide.
Get an exact quote
Call or text 306-700-6576 with the number and ages of your children and roughly when you need cover. Exact figure in about two minutes, and a free meet-and-greet before you commit to anything.
Full service details on our babysitting page, or see all our care services.
Common questions
How much should I pay a babysitter in Saskatoon?
It depends which kind. Casual teenage sitters generally run $15 to $18 an hour, experienced adult sitters hired privately $20 to $25, and agency sitters $28 to $32. Saskatchewan's minimum wage sets the floor and it is illegal to pay below it, including for a sitter.
Why does an agency charge more than a private sitter?
Because the rate covers more than a wage. It includes employer contributions such as CPP, EI and vacation pay, commercial liability insurance, the cost of certification and Vulnerable Sector screening, scheduling, and a named backup sitter when your regular one is ill. Pay an individual directly and those obligations do not disappear - some of them land on you as the employer.
What does House Cleaning Saskatoon charge for babysitting?
From $28 per hour for one child with a two-hour minimum. Each additional sibling is $4 per hour, hours after 9pm add $3 per hour, and statutory holidays are 1.5 times. A recurring weekly schedule of eight hours or more brings it to about $25 per hour. Overnight starts at $30 per hour for waking hours.
Do I have to pay for a meet-and-greet?
No. Our meet-and-greet is twenty minutes in your home, free, with no obligation to book afterwards. You should not have to pay to find out whether you trust someone with your children.