Choosing a lift chair for an elderly parent starts with a tape measure and a scale. Four measurements taken with your parent sitting down, plus a recent weight, settle the size. The motors, the hand control, the room and the delivery come after that, in that order.
A lift chair is a power recliner on a motorised frame that raises the seat and tips it forward, so standing up starts from a higher seat. At Merit Home Furniture on Vancouver Island, our lift chair collection lists 37 chairs from eight makers. Those listed for our Duncan store run $1,499 to $5,399 before applicable taxes; three La-Z-Boy listings from $1,399 are priced as power recliners. How the lift and the recline positions work has a guide of its own.
Statistics Canada's 2022 survey on well-being and caregiving found that 53% of Canadians giving unpaid care to an adult were caring for a parent. If your parent lives on the Island and you live in Calgary or Vancouver, a lift chair from an Island store still has to fit a body you can't bring to a showroom.
How do I know what size lift chair my parent needs?
The right size of lift chair for a parent has a seat height close to their floor-to-knee measurement and a seat a little shorter than their thigh. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, writing about seated work, describes the shape to aim for. Hips, knees and ankles sit at 90 degrees or slightly more, knees no higher than hips, feet flat on the floor. It also asks for a gap three fingers wide between the back of the knee and the front edge of the seat. Pride Mobility, a lift chair maker, sets out how to take the numbers, and the steps below follow its method.
A sibling, a neighbour or a home support worker on the Island can take them for you:
- Sit them in a firm chair. A kitchen or dining chair works, with the shoes or slippers they wear at home and both feet flat.
- Floor to the back of the knee. Measure from the top of the crease behind the knee straight down to the floor. That is the seat height to look for.
- Back of the seat to the back of the knee. With their back against the chair, measure along the thigh.
- Across the hips. Measure the widest point while they sit. Pride suggests adding a couple of inches before comparing it with a seat width.
- Seat to the top of the head. That is Pride's backrest measurement, so the head has somewhere to rest when the chair reclines.
- Weight and height. Use a recent scale reading and their height as it is today.
Of the 27 lift chairs listed for our Duncan store, 17 print a seat height for the lift chair itself. Here they are, lowest seat first, with prices read on October 16, 2026, before applicable taxes. The Titan's listing gives the width between the arms rather than the seat.
| Chair | Seat height | Width | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best JoJo | 17.5 in | 16.5 in | $1,799 |
| Best Sondra | 17.5 in | 16 in | $3,849 |
| Aurora Small | 18 in | 20 in | $2,199 |
| Destin Medium/Small | 18.5 in | 21 in | $2,149 |
| Best Mexi | 18.5 in | 20.5 in | $1,849 |
| Aurora Medium | 19 in | 21.5 in | $2,249 |
| La-Z-Boy Jean | 19 in | 21 in | $1,499 to $1,599 |
| La-Z-Boy Billie | 19 in | 20.5 in | $1,949 |
| Destin Large | 19.5 in | 23 in | $2,199 |
| Best Zaynah | 19.5 in | 19 in | $2,149 |
| Rhodes Medium | 20 in | 22 in | $3,188 |
| Venice | 20 in | 22 in | $4,449 |
| Aurora Large | 20.5 in | 23.5 in | $2,249 |
| Marbella Medium | 20.5 in | 22 in | $2,849 |
| Titan with Twilight | 20.5 in | 20.5 in, arms | $3,449 |
| Best Troubador | 20.5 in | 18.5 in | $2,499 |
| Rhodes Large | 21 in | 24 in | $3,488 |
| Golden Cloud Medium | 21 in | 23 in | $5,149 |
| Best Kenley | 21.5 in | 22.5 in | $2,099 |
| Marbella Large | 22 in | 22.5 in | $2,999 |
| La-Z-Boy Clayton | 22 in | 23 in | $2,149 |
| Best Roscoe | 23.5 in | 22 in | $2,599 |
The other eight UltraComfort listings and both Scandi chairs print no seat height. Three more, the La-Z-Boy Liam, Pinnacle and Astor, are power recliners with a lift version among their options, and their measurements aren't marked as the lift version's.
Seven more lift chairs in the collection are carried only at our Campbell River or Port Alberni store. They show no price online, so a call to that store gets our best price.
| Chair | Seat height | Carried at |
|---|---|---|
| Ashley Markridge | 18 in | Port Alberni |
| Best Sedgefield | 18.25 in | Campbell River |
| Primo Denver | 19 in | Campbell River |
| Primo Ladon | 19 in | Campbell River |
| Palliser Oakridge | 19.5 in | Port Alberni |
| Best Victoria | 20.5 in | Port Alberni |
| Best Brosmer | 22 in | Campbell River |
UltraComfort's sizing page sorts its chairs by the user's height, and warns that an oversized or undersized chair makes a fall more likely getting in or out. Height puts your parent in a size. The knee measurement picks between the chairs in it.
Seat height after a hip or knee replacement
The fit changes after a hip or knee replacement, at least while your parent recovers. Island Health's booklets for both operations set a higher seat. Their rule reads, 'The seat height of all chairs that you sit on should be at least 2" (5 cm) above the bend in the back of your knees'. They add, 'Use a firm (high-density) foam cushion to increase the height of the chair if necessary', and 'Try to use chairs with arms'. Both say to follow the surgeon's directions where they differ, so ask the surgical team how high the seat should be, and for how long.
If your parent can't come in, I'd rather have their numbers over the phone than a photo of the chair they sit in now. With the knee height, the thigh depth, the hip width and a weight, I can rule listings in or out before we ever talk about colour.
Seat depth, seat width and weight capacity for a parent you can't bring in
Seat depth is the number the UltraComfort listings leave out. The Best, Golden and La-Z-Boy lift chairs Merit lists for Duncan print it, from 18.5 inches on the Best JoJo to 23.5 inches on the La-Z-Boy Clayton. UltraComfort's own sell sheets add three more: 21 inches on the Venice and the Titan, and 21 or 22 inches on the Rhodes Medium and Large. A seat deeper than your parent's thigh leaves them perched on the front edge, or sitting back with the seat edge pressing into the back of the leg.
For broader hips, UltraComfort makes a Medium Wide Maya and Vega with 26 inches between the arms. The arms are what your parent pushes on when the chair lifts, so a seat far wider than their hips puts the armrests out of easy reach.
Weight capacity is printed on all 14 UltraComfort listings, the seven Best chairs listed for Duncan, the Golden Cloud and the La-Z-Boy Clayton. The UltraComfort listings say 400 lb, or 600 lb for the Medium Wide Maya and Vega, and so do UltraComfort's current model pages. The Clayton and Best's two Beast chairs, the Roscoe and the Troubador, say 500 lb. The other Best chairs give 325 to 350 lb, and the Golden Cloud gives 375 lb. The Scandi listings and the other La-Z-Boy ones give none.
UltraComfort's older owner's manuals, its Athena page, one Marbella Large row and its sizing page give lower figures, from 300 to 500 lb. I'd plan around the lower number, because the maker's warranty goes by the owner's manual. Any figure a listing leaves out, from the seat height to the weight rating or the control, is one we can get from the maker before you choose.
One motor or two: matching the lift chair to your parent's daily routine
A one-motor lift chair moves the back and the footrest together, and a two-motor chair moves them separately. Someone who sits down for the news and gets up again gets little from a second motor. Someone who naps in the chair, reads with their feet up or sits through the afternoon can have the back upright and the feet raised at once. One motor can't hold that position.
Here is what the lift chair listings for our Duncan store say about their motors.
| Listing says | Chairs |
|---|---|
| Back and footrest move together | UltraComfort's one-zone chairs: Destin, Aurora and Austin |
| Back and footrest move separately | La-Z-Boy Clayton; UltraComfort's two-, four- and five-zone chairs; Scandi Nova and Galaxy; Best Roscoe and Troubador, with two motors each |
| Listing doesn't say | La-Z-Boy Jean and Billie; Best JoJo, Kenley, Mexi, Sondra and Zaynah; Golden Cloud |
The UltraComfort listings give lifetime cover on the frame and lift mechanism. Whichever maker it is, Merit backs the manufacturer's warranty, orders the parts and does the repairs. Lift chairs qualify for a SmartOne plan from Zucora, the extended protection we offer on every item.
What is the most comfortable chair for elderly parents?
Comfort in a lift chair for an older parent comes from fit before features. The owners' rule at Merit for any recliner is that the feet reach the floor and the head lies back against the cushion. For a parent who spends a lot of time sitting, HealthLink BC puts relieving pressure on the skin first in preventing pressure injuries. It suggests asking a doctor which cushion suits.
Can a parent with dementia or stiff hands use a lift chair's hand control?
Whether a parent with dementia can use a lift chair at all is a question for their doctor first. UltraComfort's manuals say not to operate the chair with any medical condition that results in "limited, debilitating" mental or physical capacity, and to consult a doctor before using it. Where the doctor is comfortable with it, the hand control to look for is a simple one that someone else sets up first. On Merit's listings, the UltraComfort one-zone chairs have a two-button control: one arrow up, one arrow down. The two-, four- and five-zone chairs use UltraComfort's programmable AutoDrive control, with preset positions.
UltraComfort's manuals describe two locks on its programmable controls. One disables every button. The other, a function lock, leaves only rise and recline working, which takes away the buttons a confused parent might press by mistake. It still leaves rise working, so it doesn't answer the sleeping-user warning further down. Its troubleshooting pages list a lock left on as a reason a chair seems dead or half-working, so I'd keep a note of which one is set.
The La-Z-Boy Jean and Billie listings describe a backlit wired controller, which helps in a dark room at night. The Best listings name a hand wand without describing its buttons, and the Scandi and Golden listings don't describe the control.
HealthLink BC's advice on making a home safer for someone with dementia includes not moving furniture around, because the person may get confused. A lift chair that takes the old chair's spot, facing the same way, changes the room as little as possible. The same page suggests keeping the things used often within easy reach, and the hand control is one of them.
Room, outlet and doorway: getting your parent's home ready for a lift chair
A room for a lift chair needs an outlet the cord reaches without an extension, space behind the chair to recline, and a way in wide enough. UltraComfort's manual asks for an outlet that stays easy to reach, so the chair can be unplugged quickly in an emergency. Its troubleshooting pages also ask whether the outlet is one a light switch controls. On a switched outlet, the chair loses power whenever someone turns the lamp off. HealthLink BC's caregiving advice adds keeping electrical cords off the floor.
Behind the chair, each UltraComfort listing with dimensions prints the gap it needs to recline, such as 19 inches for the Destin Medium/Small and 24 for the Marbella Medium. Deep carpet matters too. UltraComfort warns that a high plush pile can rub on the footrest and damage the mechanism. By its manual, turning the levelers under the front of the chair raises the footrest clear.
For the way in, overall widths on the Duncan listings that print one run from 31 inches on the Aurora Small to 45 inches on the Best Roscoe. Stairs, a narrow hall, a tight turn at the door and deep carpet are all worth mentioning when you order.
Lift chair delivery and setup when you're buying from off the Island
From Merit's Duncan store, delivery is $150 across the Island, assembly included. When the order is ready, we call to book a time on our delivery schedule, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. The number we take for that call can be yours or that of someone near your parent. What happens on delivery day is written up separately, and for a parent on one of the Gulf Islands, the Duncan store can say if we reach them.
We can take the old chair away when we deliver, usually for $25 to $50 a piece and sometimes included. Lead times depend on the maker. An UltraComfort chair, through Harmony, takes 3 to 6 weeks and a Best chair 8 to 10, and each is then ready for pickup or delivery. For a La-Z-Boy chair, ask what's in stock, since a custom one takes 8 to 10 weeks. For the Scandi and Golden chairs, ask the store. That matters if the chair has to be there by a hospital discharge date.
For a chair your parent hasn't sat in, the return terms matter. The Duncan store encourages exchanges for up to 30 days and handles returns case by case. A chair ordered specially for your parent carries a deposit. How exchanges and the 24% deposit work is set out in full. We offer financing!* Fairstone® carries the plans, and how paying over time works at our stores is walked through on a massage chair.
*On approved credit. Terms and conditions apply. An annual fee will be charged to your account as set out in the Retail Credit Agreement. See our Financing page for more details about our plans.
Lift chair tax in BC when a son or daughter pays
In British Columbia, a lift chair designed to help someone stand up or sit down is exempt from PST whoever buys it. PST Bulletin 207 (revised August 2024) attaches no prescription to it. The Canada Revenue Agency zero-rates the GST, charging it at 0%, only when the chair is supplied on the written order of a doctor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist or registered nurse. That order names the person the chair is for, under CRA Info Sheet GI-133.
GI-133 has two points a family should know. It defines a disability as a long-term impairment lasting at least 12 months. It leaves out "an elderly or frail person who is otherwise able-bodied" and anyone only temporarily disabled. The written order also carries the professional's signature and a date, confirms a disability the chair's features address, and should be separate from the invoice. The PST and GST rules in full have their own page.
Will a health plan or benefit cover a lift chair for seniors?
Whether a plan or benefit will cover a lift chair for seniors depends on the plan. Island Health's page on medical equipment for home use says buying, borrowing or renting it is the person's own responsibility, unless they are in the BC Palliative Care Program. Its Funding Programs page lists other funders that may help, such as the First Nations Health Authority's benefits plan, Veterans Affairs Canada and disease societies. An extended health plan sets its own rules, so it's worth asking the plan before buying. Medicare is American and pays nothing toward a chair bought here.
When should an occupational therapist see your parent before you buy?
Ask your parent's doctor about an occupational therapist's visit before you buy when the chair follows a change. That means a fall, a surgery, a diagnosis such as dementia, or a parent who can't stand without help. HealthLink BC describes what an occupational therapist does, including assessing the home, training people to use assistive devices and guiding family members and caregivers. HealthLink BC also says the best sign of a future fall is a past fall.
On the Island, Island Health's Community Access Line is the way in for home and community care. Its page lists help to understand what medical equipment you need and to reduce the risk of falling. The caller needs the person's BC Services Card, full name, date of birth and home address to hand. The services are free, though equipment may have to be rented or bought. The numbers are 1-888-533-2273 for the South Island, 1-877-734-4101 for the Centre Island and 1-866-928-4988 for the North Island. HealthLink BC's 8-1-1 line can also connect you with a health professional.
Is a lift chair better than a regular recliner for an older parent?
A lift chair earns its price over a regular recliner once getting up is a struggle; before that, a power recliner with no lift may do. Recliner seat heights for seniors are covered separately, and buying the lift before your parent really needs it is a question for their doctor or physiotherapist.
When a lift chair is the wrong buy for a parent
- Your parent doesn't want one. The chair, the cover and the colour are theirs to choose, even over the phone.
- It's meant to replace a bed. HealthLink BC's pressure injury advice says recliner chairs are likely to allow slipping and should not be used in place of a bed. If your parent has started sleeping in a chair every night, raise it with their doctor first.
- They doze off with the control in their hand. UltraComfort's manual warns that a sleeping user can trigger the control without meaning to, and the chair may then force them out of it. Ask their doctor or an occupational therapist about it before buying.
- Their memory or strength has failed badly, the manual's "limited, debilitating" case. A doctor's view comes first.
Where these lift chair facts come from
- Pride Mobility, How do I decide what size lift chair is right for me?, checked September 2026.
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, Working in a Sitting Position: Good Body Position, checked September 2026.
- UltraComfort Canada, lift chair sizes by user height (Find Your Ideal Size), checked September 2026.
- UltraComfort Canada model pages for the Vega and Vega Medium Wide (UC556), Maya (UC566), Athena (UC568), Marbella (PL446) and Venice (PL447), checked September 2026.
- UltraComfort Canada sell sheets for the Venice (PL447, 03/26), Rhodes (PL442, 04/26) and Titan with Twilight (PL449, 03/26), checked September 2026.
- UltraComfort owner's manuals: 1 and 2 comfort zone chairs, 2021, 5 comfort zone chairs and the universal manual, checked September 2026.
- Scandi Seating, lift chair range (dual power motors), checked September 2026.
- Island Health booklets on recovering from hip replacement, revised December 2024 and knee replacement, revised August 2023, checked September 2026.
- Island Health, Stay independent at home (Community Access Line), checked September 2026.
- Island Health, Medical Equipment for Home Use and its Funding Programs page, checked September 2026.
- HealthLink BC: Occupational Therapy, Caregiving: Making a Home Safe, Pressure Injuries: Prevention and Treatment and File 78 on preventing falls, checked September 2026.
- Province of British Columbia, PST Bulletin 207 (revised August 2024), page 13, lift chairs, checked September 2026.
- Canada Revenue Agency, GST/HST Info Sheet GI-133, Application of the GST/HST to Lift Chairs, January 2013, checked September 2026.
- Statistics Canada, The Daily, November 8, 2022, on paid and unpaid care, checked September 2026.
- Merit's live lift chair listings, with prices re-read October 16, 2026.
- Merit Home Furniture, Delivery and Setup and Merit Home Furniture, Returns, Deposits and Exchanges, read October 16, 2026.
Calling the Duncan store about a parent's lift chair
Call Merit's Duncan store on Ingram Street with your parent's measurements and weight in hand, and ask which chairs fit them. If anyone in the family can come in, ask which lift chairs are set up there to sit in. The Duncan store is open 9 to 5, Monday to Saturday. Nobody will push a chair you haven't settled on. Ask for me if it helps.
Call the Duncan store, (250) 746-5527
Our other lift chair guides, from how the lift works to the PST rule, sit on a single lift chair page.