STRATFORD – The Ontario government has announced spending of more than $100 million to train in excess of 32,000 new personal support workers and nurses in long-term care over the next three years.
The spending is part of the government’s Your Health plan to recruit and retain tens of thousands of long-term care staff over the coming years.
“Our seniors built the communities and province we live in today,” said Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae, who joined Minister of Long-Term Care Stan Cho at Spruce Lodge in Stratford for the announcement.
“They deserve the highest quality of care. This additional investment in training more health care workers will benefit long-term care providers across Perth-Wellington and Ontario,” Rae added.
A Jan. 31 press release from Rae’s office states Ontario is investing $94.5 million over three years to extend the Preceptor Resource and Education Program for Long-Term Care. Since launched in 2021, the program has already helped 500 long-term care homes provide clinical placements for over 17,000 nursing and personal support worker students, the release states.
With the new investment, the program now aims to train more than 3,000 new preceptors and support 31,000 new clinical placements by 2027.
“Our government is fixing long-term care by training, hiring and retaining thousands of health care workers to provide high-quality care for residents,” said Cho.
“We’re investing in programs that are building a pipeline of talent for the future and giving them more hands-on clinical training so our long-term care residents get the high-quality care they deserve,” he added.
Clinical placements are key to providing nursing and personal support worker students with hands-on experience onsite in long-term care homes under the supervision of preceptors — experienced staff who are trained for this role. Positive clinical placement experiences drive recruitment, as students often take jobs in the homes where they complete their placements. Meanwhile, becoming a preceptor gives existing long-term care staff the opportunity for career development and growth.
The release notes Ontario is also spending nearly $11 million over three years to expand Living Classrooms, a program that helps students train to become PSWs on-site in local long-term care homes. With this investment, the program will double the number of living classrooms from 20 to 40, which will support the training of up to 1,300 new personal support workers by 2026.
Unlike traditional PSW training programs, where students start with a classroom education and then move on to clinical placements, living classrooms integrate education into a long-term care home. Students alternate between in-class learning — delivered in the home or nearby — and applying what they learn as they work with residents within the home.
“The program is especially beneficial to rural, remote, and northern regions, as homes can grow their own staff and students can train without having to leave their communities,” the release states.
