Free training offered for 6,000 PSW students

Ontario Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday, Feb. 24, announced that 6,000 students enrolled in personal support worker programs at the province’s 24 colleges starting in April would pay nothing for their training.

The government was investing a total of $115-million in that, and to provide $2,000 in tuition assistance for 2,200 students currently enrolled in such programs.

The training program will be compressed to six months from eight.

“Our government has made very clear during this pandemic that nothing is more important than the health of long-term care residents,” he said. “We have a duty to protect them, and we made a promise to do whatever it takes to ensure they get the highest-quality care.”

That included increasing the average amount of direct care received by long-term care residents to four hours a day, and that meant more PSWs were needed, he stated.