DARTMOUTH, N.S. – The Nova Scotia government recently announced its plan to shoulder 100 per cent of about 2,200 Continuing Care Assistant (CCA) students’ tuition fees over the next 2½ years. This aligns with the province’s goal to attract more people to the high-demand CCA sector as they comprise the majority of the long-term care workers. The $22 million allocated budget for recruitment constitutes the biggest chunk of the province’s overall plan to spend $57 million on long-term care.
Nova Scotia plans to attract more people to the high-demand CCA sector.
Premier Tim Houston said the proposal aims to address staffing shortages and ease long wait times at long-term care homes. He explained that even though they are planning to add 2,500 new single-room beds to long-term care homes, those will be useless unless they employ qualified dedicated staff.
The rest of the $57M budget will be allotted to employee retention programs related to wellness, professional development, and efficient work scheduling.
Nova Scotia presently funds about 6,600 full-time CCA roles across the provincial long-term care and acute sectors. According to officials, they will gain a more accurate number of the CCA deficit next year once the professional registry begins. They anticipate the new CCA students to start working by February 2022.
“This plan benefits not only the Nova Scotia long-term care sector but also the individuals who want to serve the community by joining the CCA workforce,” said Stuart Bentley, President of Eastern College. “Eastern is pleased to contribute by training these CCA students to be competently and confidently job-ready to enter the workforce.”
Eastern College offers a Continuing Care Assistant diploma program, which includes an 11-week internship. The 44-week program uses course materials approved by the Health Association of Nova Scotia CCA Program Advisory Committee.
Upon program completion, students can expect to learn about:
- front-line palliative care
- standard first aid/CPR Level C training
- food hygiene or Basic Food Safety Training
- Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System
- Occupational Health and Safety Act
About Eastern College
Eastern College has provided training in a modular approach to best prepare students for the job market. Since its establishment in 1983, Eastern has helped fast-track over 30,000 students to job-readiness through its programs and courses.
With campuses in Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, and Halifax, Eastern offers programs under six faculties namely Business, Technology, Healthcare, Law, Supply Chain, and Art & Design. For more information about Eastern College, please go to www.easterncollege.ca.