College Certificate - Personal Support Worker

The Personal Support Worker certificate is a one-year program with field placement, training front-line care providers for long-term care, home care and community settings.

Content covers personal care and activities of daily living, safe transfers and mobility assistance, infection prevention and control, nutrition and assisted feeding, dementia and cognitive impairment care, palliative and end-of-life support, mental health awareness, abuse recognition and mandatory reporting, documentation, and communication with clients, families and care teams.

This is the fastest route into Canadian healthcare employment and the Ontario shortage is severe. It is also physically and emotionally demanding work at modest pay — be clear about that before enrolling. Many graduates use it as an entry point and bridge into practical nursing at the same campus. Seneca runs this at Newnham, King and Yorkgate; Newnham and Yorkgate share the $15,022 fee while King is $16,478.

Placement requires a police vulnerable sector check and, in most settings, immunisation records and CPR certification. Students who cannot clear these cannot be placed, so arrange them early.

Newnham is Seneca’s largest campus, on Finch Avenue East in North York, with its own residence, library, athletic centre and specialised technical labs. It sits on the TTC network with subway connections, and carries the bulk of Seneca’s business, technology and engineering catalogue — which means the widest range of student clubs, services and peers of any Seneca site.

Seneca Polytechnic — formerly Seneca College — is one of Ontario’s largest public colleges and a Designated Learning Institution. Newnham is its biggest campus, on Finch Avenue East in North York, and carries the bulk of Seneca’s business, technology, engineering technology, aviation and applied science catalogue. It has its own residence, a large library and athletic centre, and sits on the TTC network with connections to the subway.

Its field maps to CIP 51.2602 (Home health aide/personal care aide). Important: this is a college credential rather than a degree, so it is not exempt from the November 2024 PGWP field-of-study restriction — eligibility depends on this CIP field appearing on IRCC’s eligible list when you apply. Seneca publishes a PGWP-eligible program list; check it, and confirm with an Apply Study Visa counsellor before committing. IRCC makes the final decision.