Wallaceburg District Secondary School: where students get paid to become personal support workers

Wallaceburg high school students are getting the opportunity to learn what it takes to be a PSW. CTV Windsor’s Michelle Maluske learns more about the program.

Some students at Wallaceburg District Secondary School are getting paid to become personal support workers.

WDSS has a year-long, eight credit program which trains students to enter the healthcare workforce upon graduation.

“It is equivalent to the college so, the students actually get a certificate when they complete the program,” says Lisa Zandbergen, trained nurse and now high school teacher.

The only difference is the course is free to students up to the age of 21, who live in the boundaries of the Lambton-Kent District School Board.

The province now funds textbooks, scrubs, shoes and coats for the students to ease the staff shortage of PSWs.

“These (high school programs) are sprouting up now because of the shortage,” says Zandbergen who teaches at one of 21 programs in Ontario.

“We learned during the pandemic that we really need health care workers so this actually helps.”

According to figures released by the Ontario government, the province needed more than 37,000 additional PSWs in 2024. The number is set to rise to more than 48,000 by 2027.

“I like helping people, and I want to make somebody feel good about themselves when they’re having a hard day,” student Layla Mahoney,18, says.

“I didn’t even know what I wanted to do after high school. I felt really, really stuck,” classmate Alex Ross, 18, tells CTV News. “But taking the course, I think it helped me kinda shape a way to where I want to go.”

Two classrooms in WDSS are dedicated for the program with one looking more like a medical training room, with patient beds, wheelchairs, walkers and assistive devices for those who can’t care for themselves.

In their second semester students will go on their co-op placements at long-term care facilities or the daycare in town.

“310 (hours) of our placement are paid by government,” Ross says. “I’m pretty sure it’s $17.50 (per hour). You’re making a good amount of money.”

“And then when you get hired, you go up to $27 (per hour), I believe,” Mahoney adds.

Zandbergen used to work in long-term care where she was keen to hire students from the program, because of the hands-on experience the high school students get.

“In the college programs, they get about 110 hours clinical. Our folks get 440 hours,” Zandbergen explains.

“It’s a difficult job, but it’s one that if you can walk away during the day and say, I helped somebody.”

She notices a big difference in the students from September to June.

“Once they start caring for someone else, they become more self-aware, more self-reflective, and maybe less involved in themselves,” Zandbergen says.

“If I can be there for them (patients) and make them comfortable and I can kind of be their person, I think that it would bring a lot of like joy to them and kind of peace for me,” Mahoney says.

“I really like the idea of helping people,” Ross adds. “I could honestly see myself either working in long-term care or even at the daycare in town, because they do take us folks.”