Ford guaranteed PSWs would keep the $3-an-hour pandemic raise
“I've always said, folks, (personal support workers) are overworked, underpaid, and they deserve every single penny, times 10. So we're going to keep that in place, the $3 an hour pay for them. It's a guarantee. We're going to do it.”
Doug Ford, · Long-term care announcement, North Bay
What happened · Apr 21, 2022
The temporary wage enhancement was made permanent by regulation from April 21, 2022, under a framework in the Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act, 2022 (Bill 106).
The $3 hourly increase began in October 2020 and was extended several times. On March 15, 2022 Ford said "We are going to make it permanent." The legislature passed Bill 106 on April 14, 2022. It included the Supporting Retention in Public Services Act, 2022, and the government budgeted $893 million in 2022-23 for the raise. The PSW and DSW Permanent Compensation Enhancement Program began on April 21, 2022. It pays $3 an hour in long-term care, home and community care and social services, and $2 an hour in public hospitals, about 158,000 workers in all. Unions said the raise fell short of fixing staffing problems.