Personal Support Worker Salary

Article #20 in our series. The average PSW Wage

PSW Wages

One of the more popular features on our website is our average personal support worker salary, which can be found in our Information section. The average ($14.43) was researched via a CUPE study in 2003. It might be time for an update, don’t you think?

I decided to put together a very informal PSW wage survey. I used the data from the most recent 50 job postings from PSWJobs.com that included wage data. The data stretched from June 2009 – January 15th, 2010.

If a wage was listed between $11 – $12 per hour I took the average, ie $11.50. Keep in mind that these are starting wages. Most workplaces will give raises for performance, extra certifications, a certain number of hours on the job, etc.

Results:

The average starting or hiring wage was $14.53 per hour. Part-time positions outweighed full-time positions, although many employers listed positions as leading to full-time after a short probation period. Below is a chart showing the average wage in each city. The straight blue line represents the average of $14.53

The two largest hiring markets (based upon want ads) were Toronto and Ottawa. Toronto’s average wage from the study was $14.05. Ottawa’s was an even $14. The highest average wage’s were found in Newmarket, Northern Ontario (Sudbury for example) and the Niagara region. This could very well be due to fewer graduates in the area, along with a large percentage of ‘resort’ client health homes.

With the average starting wage being $14.53, I would say that overall wages have gained ground since the CUPE study ($14.43 per hour, including long-time workers). Hopefully this trend will continue.