Every year on May 19, we celebrate Personal Support Worker Day across Ontario. PSWs and HSWs (Home Support Worker) are an essential part of Ontario’s health care system. Their dedicated care, delivered with compassion, allows so many of our clients to live independently in the comfort of their own homes with dignity.

Whether they’re caring for a client whose daily activities have become a challenge due to age or providing support to someone managing a recovery, illness, injury or disability at home, our PSWs and HSWs are tirelessly caring for their communities.

Celebrating PSW and HSW Day is also about acknowledging the skill, resilience and dedication required in this profession. PSWs and HSWs navigate complex situations with empathy and professionalism, adapting to each client’s unique needs. They often support the entire family as well, offering reassurance, comfort and guidance during challenging times.

On this very special day, we’re proud to recognize the incredible contributions PSWs and HSWs make and the lives they change through the loving care they provide.

As part of our celebration, we asked a few of our PSWs why recognizing the role PSWs play is important and what being a PSW means to them. Here’s what they had to say!

---

“Being a PSW is more than a role—it’s a commitment to stand beside someone with compassion and respect in their most vulnerable moments. As a coach and preceptor, I carry that same purpose in guiding others to care with heart. Recognizing PSWs matters because the impact we make is felt deeply, every single day.”

• Van Bation, PSW, PS Care Team Coach

 

“The PSW role is important because we provide essential daily care, emotional support and help maintain clients’ dignity and independence. Recognizing the PSW role ensures better teamwork, improves quality of care and support the well-being of both clients and health professionals.” 

• Luke Kwakye Oduro, PSW, PS Care Team Coach

 

“Being a PSW means, to me, caring for seniors and those recovering from illness with compassion, patience and heart. To me it’s more than a job, it’s making a difference in someone’s life every single day. Recognizing the work PSWs do is important because it validates our essential role in caring for vulnerable clients. It also promotes respect for the profession, makes us feel valued, and raises public awareness of our contribution to health and community care.”

• Alma Mendoza, PSW

“Being a PSW to me means serving vulnerable  people and their independence and also providing both essential physical care and emotional companionship. It is important as it is critical because they are helpful individuals and the backbone in the Healthcare system. They provide essential, hands-on care that allows individuals to live safely. They’re the primary contact to help seniors with disabilities and those recovering from illness by offering assistance.

• Grace Richards, PSW

---

On this very special awareness day, and every other day, we express our deepest thanks to the PSWs and HSWs at VHA and across the province for the incredible work. The care they provide, delivered with heart, acts as the backbone of homecare in Ontario. From everyone at VHA, our clients and their families, thanks you for all you do and Happy PSW/HSW Day!