New Brunswick will now cover full tuition costs for those wanting to become personal support workers or human services counsellors.
The initiative comes as the province looks to help address recruitment and retention issues in the two sectors.
Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Trevor Holder said the province needs to do everything it can to provide care for its most vulnerable residents.
“By making these changes, we are confident more New Brunswickers will be encouraged to choose a career in these occupations, while also addressing one of the province’s most critical labour needs,” Holder said in a news release Friday.
In order to be eligible, New Brunswickers need to have an employment action plan approved by an employment counsellor at WorkingNB.
Up until now, WorkingNB clients were only eligible to have 50 per cent of their tuition costs covered, up to a maximum of $4,000.
Funding for other costs such as transportation, child care and living allowances may also be available.
The president of the New Brunswick Special Care Home Association described Friday’s announcement as a “major step” to make it easier for people to receive high-quality training.
“We have seen, during the pandemic, just how important it is for our staff to have high-quality and consistent training; PSWs have been the backbone of the senior care system at so many levels,” Jan Seely said in the release.
Lise Hitchcock, president of the Association of Human Service Counsellors of New Brunswick, said the free training should help make the profession a more attractive career choice.
Officials said the move is expected to help fill about 500 seats available for training in the two sectors.
You can find more details on the Government of New Brunswick’s website.
Follow
