Quebec to launch fast-track program to train 1,000 home care workers
Quebec is launching another fast-track training program, hoping to train 1,000 new home-care workers by this fall -- but some are concerned that cutting corners will affect the quality of care.
The program aims to help boost home-care services in Quebec as the population ages.
People who want to become home-care workers can enrol in an accelerated training program paid for by the government.
"We are putting a lot of money. That's $12,000 per person for five months," said Health Minister Christian Dube.
It's similar to another program Quebec rolled out in 2020, fast-tracking the training of 10,000 orderlies to help during the pandemic.
The new home-care workers would only receive 705 hours of training instead of the usual 870 hours.
CSN union president Caroline Senneville said there's concern workers who lack enough training could face difficulties in patients' homes.
"They could be aggressive because of mental health problems or because they have Alzheimer's or things like that, even in the early stages," she said.
Opposition parties all agree attracting more people to work in home care is urgent.
"The huge challenge of the aging population in Quebec needs a lot of measures," said Quebec Solidaire co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois. "It's going to be a big challenge for us as a society."
Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay said it won't solve the underlying problem.
"So far, with respect to those types of programs, we haven't seen any tangible results in order to address the labour shortage and the crisis," he said.
Dube disagreed.
"We've seen it has been very positive with the PAB [orderlies] when we train 10,000 people, we still have 7,500 of them that are still in the system," he said.
Properly training workers is a big part of retaining them, said Senneville.
"We have to tackle this not only as a short-term solution, but also mid-term and long-term solution," she said.
The CSN said it would like the government to commit to ongoing training for these new hires so they can eventually complete the total number of training hours and hopefully stick with the profession.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Haida elder suing Catholic Church and priest, hopes for 'healing and reconciliation'
The lawyer for a residential school survivor leading a proposed class-action defamation lawsuit against the Catholic Church over residential schools says the court action is a last resort.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.
Opinion I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'doesn't get' the global phenomenon.
It's 30 years since apartheid ended. South Africa's celebrations are set against growing discontent
South Africa marked 30 years since the end of apartheid and the birth of its democracy with a ceremony in the capital Saturday that included a 21-gun salute and the waving of the nation's multicolored flag.