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
What weather experts say to expect this summer in Canada
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Israel sends tanks into Rafah on raids amid Gaza-wide offensive
Israeli tanks mounted raids across Rafah in defiance of the World Court for a second day on Wednesday, after Washington said the assault did not amount to a major ground operation in the southern Gazan city that U.S. officials have warned Israel to avoid.
Tessa Virtue reveals she's expecting her first child. Here's what Canadians had to say
Canadian figure-skating icon Tessa Virtue is expecting her first child, she revealed via social media Tuesday.
Five more Ontario school boards join lawsuit against social media platforms
Five additional Ontario school boards and two independent private schools have joined a lawsuit against the owners of multiple social media platforms, including Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
In bizarre provocation, North Korea flies trash, manure balloons over the South
North Korea flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South’s military to mobilize chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.