About 12,000 special home care workers will be receiving wage increases on April 1st.
This is a part of a $12-million investment from the provincial government.
President of the Special Care Home Association of New Brunswick Jan Seely says this is a good start.
“I am happy to see that the government is focussing on that foundational piece of care. You wouldn’t build a house without a foundation, and I look at these workers as the foundation of our health care system. Hopefully this will help strengthen that.”
Seely says there is a shortage of these types of workers, and low wages make it difficult to attract and recruit more, “Most people working at the community level make anywhere from minimum wage to around $14.80 an hour. That’s not even a living wage in Canada, and workers in this industry in New Brunswick also make the lowest wages in Canada.”
Special care home workers are the ones who help families who are struggling in their own communities, help adults who need support of employment or seniors with disabilities, and care for them in their own homes. Special care homes are also the step before a nursing home.
“At the community level, these 12.000 people, who are mostly women, are essential to our entire health care system. If we are not successful in the community, helping to keep people in their own homes and in smaller community environments like special care homes, then they need to go to the hospital, and tie up hospital beds and they need nursing home beds,” Seely says.
Workers in the human services will receive hourly wage increases on April 1st, from 25 cents to one dollar. In 2016, the provincial government also invested $11 million to increase wages.
