Ontario's labour minister says the Chatham, Sarnia, and Windsor regions will have more than 100 new personal support workers by next month.
The province has invested $2.5 million in a new program that connects PSWs with paid training and job placements.
Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton unveiled the Grow Your Own HSW-PSW Partnership Program Friday morning in Wallaceburg.
"Thanks to a partnership between our government, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, SE Career College of Health and local employers, this region will have [109] new personal support workers by next month."
McNaughton said the province's mission is to give more people receiving social assistance a hand up. He said one-third of those receiving training are people moving off of Ontario Works or ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program).
"We need to start measuring success by how many people we help go from social assistance into meaningful jobs, not by how many people sign up for social assistance."
Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff thanked the province for delivering the program in the region.
"This funding has allowed our employment and social services team here at the Municipality of Chatham-Kent to deliver a very successful training program, with valued Ontario Works delivery partners at the City of Windsor and the County of Lambton and SE Career College of Health."
Canniff added that 26 employers across Chatham-Kent, Sarnia-Lambton, and Windsor-Essex were provided with immediate staffing options upon the program's launch in 2021.
McNaughton said over their 30 week paid training and work placements, participants become fully qualified PSWs. He said the first cohort of the program started last year.
