‘Opportunities are endless’ for Seneca accelerated PSW program in King

Student Kimberley Daley says she is happy with the program she started in April

Yorkregion.com
May 21, 2021
Laura Broadley

Kimberley Daley has always been interested in the health-care field. So when the opportunity to take Seneca College’s accelerated personal support worker (PSW) program arose, she took it.

“I’ve been telling everybody about the program because it’s a shorter period of time and the opportunities are endless,” Daley said.

Seneca College began accepting applications for the new accelerated program in March for its King campus. The program is part of the Ontario government’s $115-million investment to train up to 8,200 new personal support workers for the province’s health and long-term-care sectors.

Daley started in the PSW program at Seneca College at the beginning of April.

“So far it’s been really good,” Daley said. “The course itself has been really straightforward. The teachers have been making it really easy for us to have the time to get everything done and also giving us the support that we need.”

Daley initially wanted to become a nurse, but changed her mind when the opportunity came for the accelerated course.

“My aunt had a stroke so we had a hard time getting care for her, so we had to end up sending her back to Jamaica because we had no one here to take care of her. In that situation it just opened my eyes to the importance of what PSWs do. So when I saw the opportunity, I took it because my entire family, they are getting older, and the health-care field is something that I’ve always been interested in,” she said.

All 24 of Ontario’s publicly assisted colleges offer this program and it is part of the government’s Long-Term Care Staffing Plan, which is one of the largest recruitment and training drives in Ontario’s history.

“This is a major step forward in filling the shortages of personal support workers, considering the high demand for PSWs serving seniors and at-risk families in King and Vaughan,” said Stephen Lecce, MPP for King-Vaughan. “Our government’s plan to train over 8,000 new PSWs will improve the quality of life of senior residents, which is why I was proud to announce that Seneca College in King will play a critical role in supporting one of the largest recruitment and training drives in Ontario history.”

The accelerated PSW program is expected to result in more than 8,000 PSW graduates ready to be employed across Ontario in the fall.

The accelerated PSW program is a tuition-free opportunity for 6,000 new students and is expected to take six months to finish as opposed to the typical eight months. Students will complete three months of course work and experiential learning in a clinical setting. The last three months will be paid on-site training in a long-term-care home or in a home and community care environment.

“I’m extremely pleased that Ontario colleges -- including Seneca College in King City -- are now accepting applications to Ontario's new accelerated training program for personal support workers. By offering world-class programs, Seneca has enabled several generations of King high school students to stay close to home while earning their post-secondary education. We look forward to seeing more Seneca students graduating into high-demand jobs in the health and long-term-care sectors through the province’s accelerated training program,” said King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini.