Ontario’s largest trainer of PSWs eager to meet Province’s new long-term health care goals
BRANTFORD, ON, December 18, 2020 – Ontario’s largest sector in training personal support workers is committed to meeting the province’s health care needs outlined in the government’s historic long-term care staffing plan.
Premier Doug Ford, Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care, and Effie Triantafilopoulos, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care announced the plan Thursday.
The long-term care staffing plan sets out actions to hire more staff, improve working conditions for existing staff, drive effective and accountable leadership, and implement retention strategies.
Ontario’s career colleges train 80 per cent of the personal support workers currently serving as Ontario’s front-line health care staff. 231 of the province’s 679 career colleges are training students to fill critical health care positions in their local communities.
“Naturally, career colleges are the cornerstone in training skilled health care workers to meet the pressing demand of local health care facilities and long-term care homes,” says Adrian Sharma, chair of Career Colleges Ontario. “Any meaningful plan to increase the supply of PSWs within all Ontario communities will need to partner with the institutions already doing the heavy lifting.”
“Our PSW graduates are represented at every corner of our health care system—long-term care, home care, supportive housing, group homes, and hospitals,” says George Hood, chair of the National Association of Career Colleges.
NACC developed and maintains the curriculum for the Personal Support Worker program offered at career colleges. The program is approved by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities. It is a single training program that sets a common standard for career colleges, Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology and Boards of Education.
The program is based on the Ontario Personal Support Worker Training Standard, and its content, standards and guidelines, combined with the clinical component of the program, ensure that the graduates have the knowledge and skills necessary to be successful as a personal support worker.
Ontario’s career colleges, CCO and NACC support this bold initiative from the Ford government and are prepared to partner in delivering on this commitment.
About the National Association of Career Colleges
The National Association of Career Colleges (NACC) is the respected voice of regulated career colleges across Canada since 1896. The association’s membership exceeds 400 member colleges that meet the highest regulatory standards, ensuring the best possible education for their students.
About Career Colleges Ontario
CCO is a non-profit association advocating for the equitable treatment of career college students and a level playing field for its member institutions. The association represents 240 campuses and roughly 80 per cent of Ontario’s career college student population. CCO’s member campuses contribute to Ontario’s economy by providing highly qualified graduates in hundreds of essential, skilled fields such as Applied Arts, Business, Healthcare, Human Services, Information Technology, Services and Trades.
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