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Attracting New PSW Graduates to Long-Term Care and Home and Community Care Sectors

Ontario is providing incentive funding to attract personal support workers (PSWs) to work in long-term care homes as well as home and community care agencies.

Available funding provides:

  • up to $5,440 to PSW students as a stipend during their clinical placement in a long-term care home and/or home and community care employer;
  • $10,000 to recent PSW graduates in exchange for a 12-month commitment to work in a long-term care home or for a home and community care employer; and
  • an additional $10,000 to support relocation costs for those recent PSW graduates committing to work in a long-term care home or with a home and community care employer in a rural, remote, or northern area for 12 months.

Information for Employers

All participating employers must be a publicly funded long-term care home or home and community care agency in Ontario. All employers must submit an Employer Application Form to participate, even if they were approved in a previous cohort of the PSW Return of Service (PSW ROS) program.

All new initiatives are retroactive to April 1, 2023, and recent PSW students and graduates are eligible.

PSWs currently completing the six-month Personal Support Worker Return of Service (PSW ROS) program may be eligible for an additional six months, for a total 12-month return of service, and would become eligible for an additional $5,000 incentive.

Clinical Placement Stipend

  • Participating employers must offer clinical placements to students as part of an Ontario PSW training program at a public-assisted college, private career college, district school board or Indigenous Institute that meets the 2022 program standard established by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities.

Return of Service

  • Participating employers must offer full-time hours to an eligible PSW to deliver publicly funded personal support services for a minimum of 12 months.

Rural, Remote and Northern Relocation Support

Employer Application Form

Information for PSW Students and Graduates

Funding to PSWs and PSW students is provided through long-term care homes and home and community care agencies participating in the program. Ontario Health can connect you to participating employers and keep you up to date on incentive funding, job search support and program updates. To receive job search support or program updates, please complete the PSW Expression of Interest Form.

Clinical Placement Stipend

To be eligible for the clinical placement stipend, you must:

  • Begin a clinical placement as part of an Ontario PSW training program at a public-assisted college, private career college, district school board or Indigenous Institute that meets the 2022 program standard established by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities with a participating long-term care home or home and community care agency; and
  • Begin your eligible clinical placement on or after April 1, 2023.

Return of Service

To be eligible for the return of service incentive, you must:

  • Successfully complete an Ontario PSW training program at a public-assisted college, private career college, district school board or Indigenous Institute that meets the 2022 program standard established by the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities, on or after April 1, 2023;
  • Begin employment with a participating employer between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2026; and
  • Commit to 12 months of employment at a full-time work schedule offered by a participating employer.

Rural, Remote, and Northern Relocation Support

To be eligible for rural, remote and northern relocation support, you must:

  • Commit to a 12-month Return of Service with a participating employer in Northern Ontario or in a community with a Rurality Index for Ontario (RIO) score of 40 or above; and
  • Relocate a minimum distance of 100 km from your primary residence for the purposes of employment with a participating employer.

PSW Expression of Interest Form

Contact

If you have any questions about these initiatives, email info-hfo@ontariohealth.ca.

 
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