Frequently Asked Questions
Participating in the PSW Fund is designed to be easy and intuitive for long-term care homes. If there are any questions about the process, please email pswfund@the-ria.ca.
Step 1: The PSW Fund offers seven different workshops for all team members in LTC. Browse the options in the “Training Programs”. To enroll your LTC Home in your desired workshops, click the “Enroll my LTC Home” button on the course page. Note that enrollment forms are course-specific.
Step 2: Receive an enrollment confirmation email. This will be sent to the contact whose information was used on the enrollment form.
Step 3: Enrollment confirmation emails contain a registration link that is unique to each workshop and your LTC Home.The Registration link will allow you to register individual team members for specific course dates and times. Registration email confirmations will be sent to the email of the registrant. Note: Any cancellations or changes in registrations must be directed to pswfund@the-ria.ca
Step 1: View Course Options
- Explore current PSW Fund course offerings and determine which are applicable for your LTC home and team members.
Choosing a Lead Contact for the PSW Fund is dependent on the processes and preferences of your LTC Home. Lead contacts need to be able to: have frequent access to emails; coordinate with schedulers in your LTC Home; communicate with team members; and respond to PSW Fund emails in a timely manner. Examples of roles of lead contacts currently enrolled in the PSW Fund are:
- Education Specialists
- BSO Leads
- Human Resources team members
- Resident Experience & Programs Leads
- Manager of Professional Development
- Quality Manager
Step 2: Identify a team member as the lead contact. Lead contacts will be responsible for:
- enrolling their LTC home in one or more training program.
- encouraging team members to register for, and participate in the program.
- reporting information as requested to the Fund.
Step 3: Provide support to team members who are completing training, which includes:
- providing space and a computer for PSWs or team members to complete the online training at their LTC home.
- allowing PSWs or team members to participate in training from home.
All Ontario long-term care homes are eligible to enroll in the training and receive tuition coverage and backfill reimbursement for team member participation, including homes that have participated previously.
The training is available to anyone employed by a long-term care home in Ontario, including personal support workers (PSWs), resident support aides, nurses, recreation professionals, housekeeping staff, administrators, leadership, and other team members.
Tuition and backfill reimbursement is provided for team members who have registered and successfully completed the course(s). Team members must attend the full training session in order to receive backfill funding. Attendance is taken in the morning and afternoon; Active participation throughout the day is required.
LTC homes do not need to submit expense forms. Tuition for these courses is covered directly by the fund, with no upfront expense to the LTC home. Backfill pay is reimbursed at a standard rate of $30 per hour. See the Backfill Funding page for more information.
Reimbursement for backfill is paid by EFT or by mailed cheque within approximately 60 days of team members successfully completing the course(s).
Sessions generally run Monday – Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Start times can be adjusted for in-person training sessions. LDJ, ONE and TWM sessions are offered at least twice each month.
Please note that training options may not be available every week, depending on holidays, facilitator availability and demand. There is no requirement to register team members for sessions after enrollment if the available dates and times do not work for your home. If your home is interested in training on alternate dates or evenings, please contact the PSW Fund team.
Team members can expect to receive a completion certificate within 45 days of attending the training. If you have not received your certificate within 45 days, please contact pswfund@the-ria.ca.
We recommend that each team member join from their own device. However, we understand that this is not always possible, and we will allow up to four people per device for LDJ and One Day. For The Working Mind LTC, each team member must join from their own device. If technology is a barrier to participation in your LTC home, please email pswfund@the-ria.ca
No, team members from the same LTC home do not have to attend the same training session. Lead contacts should consider when PSWs and other team members are scheduled to attend training to maintain staffing levels within their LTC home.
If your LTC home has certified LDJ trainers, you do not need to connect with the PSW Fund team in advance to run an in-home LDJ session.
Your home can facilitate the session independently and submit the attendance sheet afterward to claim backfill reimbursement. Attendance sheets must be submitted to pswfund@the-ria.ca by March 31 in order to receive backfill funding.
If your LTC home has certified TWM trainers, you do not need to connect with the PSW Fund team in advance to run an in-home TWM session.
Your home can facilitate the session independently and submit the attendance sheet afterward to claim backfill reimbursement. Please complete this form by March 31 in order to receive backfill funding.
We understand that sometimes, training sessions may need to be rescheduled. If this is the case, please contact the program staff at pswfund@the-ria.ca or 226-581-2369 as soon as possible.
Yes, our course offerings are consistently reviewed and updated to ensure they meet the needs of the LTC sector. Subscribe to the Ontario CLRI newsletter to be notified of future PSW Education Fund opportunities.
If a session needs to be cancelled, registered participants and their lead contacts will be notified at least three (3) business days in advance.
Please note the following specific guidelines:
- Minimum Attendance (TWM): For TWM sessions, a minimum of eight (8) participants must join by the scheduled start time, or the session will be cancelled.
- Backfill Coverage: If a session is cancelled after registered participants have already arrived, homes will receive backfill coverage for those participants.
- In person sessions are an option for LDJ and ONE, while all BTDC sessions are completed in-person
- To host a BTDC session, please use the enrollment form: *form*
- To host in-person sessions for LDJ and/or ONE, please reach out to pswfund@the-ria.ca to make your request
- Considerations for hosting in-person sessions:
- Session minimums are 12 team members, while the maximum is 30. If you are not able to fulfill the minimum, we may be able to combine with a LTC Home nearby
- Ideally, you will have training space for the number of team members you wish to train. Please note that this is not a necessity, and other options are available upon request.
- AV equipment such as a projector and speakers are required in the space.
- Catered lunch is provided for all participants. Dietary information is collected when you register team members
- Note that our typical registration process does NOT include registration for in-person sessions. In-person registration takes place following the confirmation of a session, via a different portal.
- We typically plan in-person sessions 8 weeks in advance
- Inquiring about an in-person session does not guarantee your spot. In-person sessions are dependent on the availability of our facilitators