For those who are looking to become a Personal Support Worker (PSW) in Ontario, there are many options to fulfill the necessary requirements before you can start working.

Please note that this profession does not fall under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA). This means that unlike Nurses, PSW’s are not regulated and no licensure is required.

However, you do have to obtain a certificate/diploma by completing the PSW course.

PSW Program through District School Board

Out of many options to complete this program, one is through a district school board.

Please note that not all Ontario district school boards offer this program. There are only 24 school boards that collaborate with C.E.S.B.A. to provide such courses.

C.E.S.B.A. is the Ontario Association of Continuing Education of School Board Administrators that works with public and catholic school boards to develop and run programs geared towards skills development employment and continuing education.

Here’s a short video about this:

District school boards in Ontario offer PSW programs through the Ontario Secondary School (OSS) health technology curriculum and under Cooperative Education Guidelines.

Following is the list of Ontario district school board that offers Personal Support Worker programs. Please click on the name of the school board to get more details.

Name	Address	Contact Info
Algoma District School Board	644 Albert St E Sault Ste Marie, ON P6A 2K7	Phone: (705) 945-7111 Fax: (705) 942-2540
Algonquin and Lakeshore Catholic District School Board	151 Dairy Ave Napanee, ON K7R 4B2	Phone: (613) 354-2255 Fax: (613) 354-0351
Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario	Box 2222 2755 43 Hwy Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0	Phone: (613) 258-7757 Fax: (613) 258-5067
Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario (French Board)	2445 Saint-Laurent boulevard Ottawa, ON K1G 6C3	Phone: (613) 742-8960 Fax: (613) 747-3810
District School Board of Niagara	191 Carlton St St Catharines, ON L2R 7P4	Phone: (905) 641-1550 Fax: (905) 685-8511
Durham District School Board	400 Taunton Rd E Whitby, ON L1R 2K6	Phone: (905) 666-5500 Fax: (905) 666-6474
Grand Erie District School Board	349 Erie Ave Brantford, ON N3T 5V3	Phone: (519) 756-6301 Fax: (519) 756-9181
Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board	Box 2012 90 Mulberry St Hamilton, ON L8N 3R9	Phone: (905) 525-2930 Fax: (905) 525-1724
Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board	Box 7190 1994 Fisher Dr Peterborough, ON K9J 7A1	Phone: (705) 742-9773 Fax: (705) 742-7801
Lambton Kent District School Board	Box 2091 200 Wellington St Sarnia, ON N7T 7L2	Phone: (519) 336-1500 Fax: (519) 336-0992
Limestone District School Board	Postal Bag 610 220 Portsmouth Ave Kingston, ON K7L 4X4	Phone: (613) 544-6920 Fax: (613) 544-6804
Niagara Catholic District School Board	427 Rice Rd Welland, ON L3C 7C1	Phone: (905) 735-0240 Fax: (905) 734-8828
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board	133 Greenbank Rd Nepean, ON K2H 6L3	Phone: (613) 721-1820 Fax: (613) 820-6968
Simcoe County District School Board	1170 26 Highway Midhurst, ON L0L 1X0	Phone: (705) 728-7570 Fax: (705) 728-2265
Thames Valley District School Board	Box 5888 1250 Dundas St E London, ON N6A 5L1	Phone: (519) 452-2000 Fax: (519) 452-2395
Toronto District School Board - City Adult Learning Centre	344 Bloor Street West, Suite 405 Toronto, Ontario M5S 3A7	Phone: (416) 961-4013 Fax: (416) 961-8138
Toronto District School Board	344 Bloor Street West, Suite 405 Toronto, Ontario M5S 3A7	Phone: (416) 961-4013 Fax: (416) 961-8138
Upper Canada District School Board	Bag Service1120 225 Central Ave W Brockville, ON K6V 5X1	Phone: (613) 342-0371 Fax: (613) 342-0277
Waterloo Catholic District School Board	A Box 91116 35 Weber Street Kitchener, ON N2G 4G2	Phone: (519) 578-3660 Fax: (519) 578-5291
York Region District School Board	60 Wellington St W Aurora, ON L4G 3H2	Phone: (416) 969-7170 Fax: (905) 727-1931

Other options to complete PSW course

Community and private career colleges also offer PSW diploma and certificate programs. Please click here to find out which public community colleges and here to find out which private colleges offer Personal Support Worker Diploma programs.

Programs offered by these colleges may vary in program length, curricula and method of delivery.

PSW course can be completed online as well. Algonquin College provides this option.

Image credit: Used under a Creative Commons Attribution from University of Michigan’s Ford School on Flickr.

 

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