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Ontario Must Hire 6,800 Additional Home Care PSWs by 2028 to Address Aging Population!


New Research Finds Seniors Growing Much Faster than Rest of Ontario population over next five years; Requiring Massive new Investments in Home Care.

(HAMILTON, ON) – February 19, 2024 – New research from Dr. Arthur Sweetman and Dr. Boris Kralj at McMaster University’s Centre for Health Economics & Policy Analysis in Hamilton paints the clearest picture yet that Ontario’s senior population is exploding over the next five years, with dire consequences for patient care without massive investments to build the home care workforce.

Their research found that the proportion of those over the age of 65 will increase by 23 per cent or 650,000 people and those over the age of 75 will grow by 27 per cent or 350,000 people by 2029 respectively. Those increases are much faster than the general population; resulting in additional pressures on the health care system and creating an urgent need for continued investment in home care to meet the increased demand for services and help more people age at home

“This research makes it clear that time is of the essence, and we must act now to get ahead of the demographic tsunami that is at our shores and could swamp our already strained health care system,” said Sue VanderBent, CEO, Home Care Ontario. “The only answer is to invest in more home care, which can be scaled faster than any other part of the health system and is what our seniors actually want.”

The new paper also outlines the massive increase in home care staff that will be required to keep pace with this demographic surge in Ontario’s seniors’ population. It specifically found that Ontario will need to hire an additional 6800 PSWs in the home care sector alone by 2028 just to maintain the level of home care service currently provided across the province. The report also states that the need for additional staff is very likely similar for nursing, therapists, and all other health professionals working in the home care sector. The report further states that it will require thousands more staff to increase the level of care seniors receive at home – where it has been repeatedly shown that seniors want to be.

These new figures are clear proof in support of Home Care Ontario’s call that the government must invest an additional $411 million annually for the next three years to improve patient-centered care and support its home care workforce. This investment will be directed toward:

  • Further improving front line compensation;
  • Providing ongoing specialized training and mentorship to help retain existing home care staff; and,
  • Modernizing the sector’s digital infrastructure to create a sharable electronic patient record that can been seen and updated by all health care providers supporting home care patients.

It is asking government to support family-funded care by expanding the scope of the Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit (OSCAH) to ensure it supports part-time care in the home.

“We have been ringing the alarm bell that we must act fast to help our home care system and this research shows what is at stake,” concluded VanderBent. “Our seniors’ population is about to surge, and we need to make sure our health care system is ready. Continued investment is needed to massively expand the home care system to make sure the care is available where our seniors want it – at home.”

Full Report
To view Dr. Sweetman and Dr. Kralj’s research paper, please visit morehomecare.ca/research or click here.

About Home Care Ontario: Home Care Ontario is a member-based organization representing the full spectrum of home care providers in the province, including publicly-funded, not-for-profit and family-funded organizations. Our members are united by a singular mission to provide outstanding nursing care, home support services, personal care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, infusion pharmacy, social work, dietetics, speech language therapy and medical equipment and supplies to people in the comfort of their homes.

Exciting News for PSW Students & Graduates in Ontario!

Ontario is rolling out incentive funding to attract personal support workers (PSWs) to home and community care sectors.

  1. Graduate Commitment Reward: Recent PSW graduates are eligible for $10,000 if they commit to working for 12 months in these sectors, retroactive to April 1, 2023.
  2. Extended Opportunities: Current PSWs in the six-month PSW Return of Service (PSWROS) program may be eligible for an additional $5,000 incentive.
  3. Stipends for Students: PSW students can receive up to $5,500 as a stipend during their clinical placement.

This is a great opportunity for those looking to start or enhance their career in the healthcare sector while contributing to the community!

Click here to read about the PSW Return of Service initiative (healthforceontario.ca)

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Home Care and Today's Ontario Budget Announcement


Over the past several months, Home Care Ontario has been advocating strongly on your behalf for increased funding to support your staff and the patients they serve, as well as improvements to support Family Funded members. We are happy to share that the provincial government has heard our advocacy and acted on our two primary recommendations in today’s budget!

Our first recommendation was for the government to stabilize the home care system by fast-tracking the remaining $880 million commitment from last year’s budget by allocating $424.99 million this year – $288.67 million for contract rate increases to support current staffing levels, and $136.3 million for new capacity in the system.

Today’s budget goes further than we had hoped – accelerating investments to bring funding for 2023-24 up to $569 million, including nearly $300 million to support contract rate increases to stabilize the system. This historic funding will help home care providers deliver more critical health care services to Ontarians, in the comfort of their homes.

Our second ask was to modify and enhance the Ontario Seniors Care at Home Tax Credit, to make it more accessible for those Ontarians who rely on family funded home care. Because Ontario’s tax system uses the federal government for implementation, making this change will require the assistance of the Government of Canada. We are extremely pleased to see the Budget commit to continuing to working with the federal government to make claiming supports as easy and convenient as possible.

Finally, we know the whole sector stands ready to assist the government with its efforts to modernize home care the province moves towards a transformed health care system. We were encouraged to see the Budget reference this important work, particularly the reference to working with “home care partners” to modernize the system.

In response to today’s budget, Home Care Ontario released the following statement:

Statement by Sue BanderBent, CEO of Home Care Ontario

“In the budget tabled today at Queen’s Park, the government significantly accelerated funding for home care.

This is a wise and worthwhile investment that will stabilize home care and result in a cascading series of positive impacts. The accelerated funding will lead to better pay for staff - including skilled therapists, nurses and PSWs - who badly deserve it. It will relieve pressure on our strained hospitals, by reducing admissions and speeding up discharges. Most importantly, it will lead to more home care for people who need it.

We highly commend the provincial government for committing to this accelerated funding, which will make Ontario a leader in home care.

On behalf of Home Care Ontario, thank you to Premier Doug Ford, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, and Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy for bringing care home.”

Click here to read a message from Home Care Ontario CEO Sue VanderBent

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Home Care Ontario's Statement Regarding PSW Wage Enhancement Extension


"Home Care Ontario welcomes today’s announcement of a further extension of the $3 PSW wage enhancement. We have strongly advocated for this as it is critical we acknowledge and recognize the valuable work performed by PSW’s and other participants in the broader healthcare sector. In this regard, it is important to recognize the thousands of PSWs providing family-funded care who, while not included in this policy, play a key role in helping deliver care to thousands of seniors across the province every day.

It is time, however, to move past temporary solutions and make this wage increase permanent.

The wage enhancement is only one part of the solution as it does little to address the wage disparity that exists when home care PSWs are still paid $4-$5 less than in long-term care to do the same job. The government’s investments in the Long-Term Care sector during the pandemic, while needed, have not been accompanied by corresponding support for Ontarians receiving care at home. That has only worsened the disparity and caused an exodus of workers from the home care system. Home Care Ontario has been sounding the alarm for months that the home care system is now in crisis. We are calling on the province to help address this crisis by making an immediate $600M investment to ensure our seniors receive the care they want, where they want it - at home.”

- Sue VanderBent, CEO, Home Care Ontario

See Ministry of Health's full press release here.

The Home Care Ontario Team


Aging at Home IS Possible

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Testimonials

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