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Ontario to spend $17M boosting long-term care home staff

Effort will bring in more nurses and PSWs to fill jobs in long-term care homes, province says
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Ontario announced last week it will be spending close to $17 million to support the training of 700 new personal support workers (PSWs) and nurses for long-term care (LTC) employment in 2025.

The spending builds on the success of two provincial programs that have already helped more than 27,000 students complete placements in LTC homes, said a government news release. In addition, the program has provided upskilling for 170 LTC staff to become PSWs.

The province said this is part of Ontario's overall Your Health Plan to recruit and train tens of thousands new LTC employees in the coming years.

Ontario Long-Term Care Minister Natalia Kusendova-Bashta said the additional spending will pay off in the long run for residents who eventually will need care. 

“Our government is growing the long-term care workforce so residents get more of the high-quality care they need in the right place,” said Kusendova-Bashta. 

“At the same time, we’re helping people upskill to new careers and making sure nursing and PSW students gain meaningful hands-on experience as part of their training."

The new spending will see Ontario investing $14 million to expand the Preceptor Resource and Education Program for Long-Term Care (PREP LTC). 

Since being launched in 2022, the program has helped more than 500 long-term care homes provide clinical placements for more than 27,500 nursing and personal support worker students. 

The province said the spending would also include $2.6 million to expand the PSW Learn and Earn Accelerated Program at Humber Polytechnic, which helps staff at long-term care homes train to become certified personal support workers. 

In addition, the province continues to offer incentives to students and recent graduates of personal support worker education programs to launch careers in long-term care homes and in the home and community care sector.

The full text of the ministry news release is here.



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