Inside the Circle – February 3, 2026

Closures:

Line 1 Yonge-University

• When: Monday Feb 2 – Thursday Feb 5. Starting nightly at 11pm
• TTC/Traffic Changes: No subway service between Finch & Eglinton stations nightly. Shuttle buses will run.

Eastern/Adelaide Bridges

• When: Monday Feb 2 at 9pm to Tuesday Feb 3 at 5:30am
• TTC/Traffic Changes: Eastern Avenue will be fully closed westbound from Broadview Avenue to Sumach Street and fully closed eastbound from Sumach Street to Lower River Street. The Don Valley Parkway northbound on-ramp and Eastern Avenue eastbound will be accessible via Adelaide Street East.

Gardiner Expressway

• When: Thursday Feb 5 at 10pm to Friday Feb 6 at 5am
• TTC/Traffic Changes: Two lanes of eastbound Gardiner Expressway from Royal York Rd to the Lakeshore off-ramp will be closed (2 lanes remain open). Lakeshore Blvd off-ramp will also be closed.

Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) are injuries that affect your body. They can involve your muscles, bones, joints, nerves, or back.

Body mechanics means how you use your body when you move, lift, push, or pull. Your muscles, bones, and nerves work together to help you move.

You can use good body mechanics or bad body mechanics. Bad body mechanics can cause back pain and other injuries. Using good body mechanics helps you stay safe. It can prevent body strain, injuries to yourself or your client, and tiredness.

Examples of good body mechanics techniques include:

• Keep the lower portion of your back in its normal position at all times.

• Do not twist your body. Instead, always use a side step or pivot to move your torso, from your shoulders to your hip, as one solid unit.

• Set your feet into a comfortable and solid wide base of support when lifting. Having a wide base of support gives your body more stability.

• Keep your head upright and hold your shoulders up.

• Maintain a stable centre of gravity to evenly distribute your body weight. Keep your centre of gravity low, flex your knees and keep your body straight rather than bending.

• Hold loads close to your body to lessen the effect of their weight.

• Bend at your hips and knees instead of your waist to help maintain balance and divide weight easily between upper and lower body.

• Pay attention to your limits; don’t try to do more than you can handle.

For more information, please review our Safe Operation Procedure and MSD Prevention Program below:

February is Heart Month — a time to bring attention to the importance of cardiovascular health, and what we can to reduce our risk of heart disease. We can all reduce our risk by making healthy lifestyle choices, such as quitting smoking, eating a healthy and balanced diet, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and monitoring our blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Throughout this month, we’ll highlight simple yet effective ways to support heart health.

Learn more about the risk factors and what can be done to prevent heart disease by watching the video and visiting the resource below.

Whether you’re feeling burnt out, overwhelmed, or just not quite yourself, support is available.

The Health Care Worker Assist Program is made just for healthcare workers like you. It’s free, private, and here to help when you’re feeling stressed, tired, or just need someone to talk to.

Through this program, you can:

• Talk to a trained professional
• Learn ways to manage stress and feel better
• Access support in many languages
• Get help finding other services if needed

Call: 1-877-767-9642

Email: CentralizedReferral@ontarioshores.ca

Visit their website using the button below.

We’ve partnered with Your Health Space (YHS) to bring you free learning sessions created just for healthcare workers. Join their next virtual session titled, Finding Balance: Managing Workload & Psychological Demand.

Wednesday, Feb 25, 2026 – 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM.

Meeting ID: 894 0452 8924
Passcode: 317287

Learn more about our commitment to your psychological health and safety below:

Just a reminder that our GoodLife Fitness Corporate Membership is still going strong! You can enjoy a 25% discount on any GoodLife Fitness membership with a $0 enrolment fee.

Whether you’re looking to boost your energy, improve your mental health, or just get moving, this is a great benefit to take advantage of. You can also add 2 family members to your plan.

When you’re ready to register, make sure you have your employee ID handy. Your employee ID number (not your voicemail or badge number) can be found in your Dayforce profile or at the top of your paystub.

If you have any questions or need help, please reach out to our HR team HRDept@circleofcare.com for assistance.

Has someone gone above and beyond at work? Give them a High Five!

The High Five program lets you publicly recognize staff members for their outstanding work. High Fives will be posted in your weekly Inside the Circle newsletter.

To give a high five, just click on the button below or use the link in the rotating banner on the Portal home page.

Please note: We do not accept anonymous submissions for this program. High Fives must be submitted by an individual person, whether they are a staff member or member of the community.

How many days do I get sick leave with pay?

Full-time workers who finish their probationary period get 51 hours of sick leave each year. You can save up to 200 hours. This leave can be used in case of illness or injury, except for those covered by Workers’ Compensation, and will be paid time off.

Does Circle of Care hire home care nurses too? Or only PSWs?

Circle of Care is hiring home care nurses for our Sinai Health to Home program. We currently have openings for 2 full-time contract Visiting Nurses. More information can be found here: https://jobs.dayforcehcm.com/en-US/circleofcare/CANDIDATEPORTAL/jobs/2557

What do we do if we are not getting enough shift hours and our CSS is not doing anything about it?

If you are not receiving enough hours, and have already spoken with your coordinator, you should escalate this so an investigation can be done to see if there are hours available in a nearby caseload. You can connect with one of the Service Coordination Supervisors – Alicia Pelletier (ext.232) or Tariq Shafi (ext. 256).

Can you have a shift outside your schedule availability? If yes, how do I request for it?

If you would like to increase your availability, we invite you to submit an availability change request through our online form: https://psw.circleofcare.com/index.php/availability-form/ The form is also accessible on the home page of the PSW Portal (under Quick Links). Please note that filling out the form does not guarantee that your availability change request will necessarily be approved.

I wish coordinators or replacement coordinators would check our schedules. It is very frustrating: my Monday is 2.75 hours, Tuesday is 4 hours, and my other days is 5-6.75. It’s rare that my coordinator gives me any fill ins. How can I be happy in the morning if I see my schedule like this? I can’t even reach my coordinator.

There are many reasons as to why your coordinator may not answer your call – they may be on the phone with someone else, or handling another situation at the moment. If you leave a voicemail, they should call you back when they are available. Depending on what information you are seeking, they may be able to resolve your issue without a call back.

If you have been unable to connect with your coordinator for an extended period of time, please contact either Alicia Pelletier (ext.232) or Tariq Shafi (ext. 256).

If the Care Plan has only ALCs on it, and you visit a client, and family is expecting you to do other tasks that you usually do on the other days, what should we do?

If you have questions or concerns about a client’s care plan, please reach out to your Client Services Supervisor. In the meantime, you can ask the client what they would like to have done, and as long as it is within the scope of your duties as a PSW, you may perform those tasks. Tasks that you can offer to do beyond ALC would include a sponge bath, light cleaning, and light meal prep.

When is a PSW paid if a client cancels? LT or GTE? 

GTE is greater than 3 hours’ notice and LT is less than 3 hours’ notice. Whether you get paid for these visits primarily depends on the length of the visit. If the visit is of less than 3 hours, then the worker will not be paid, no matter when it was cancelled. If the visit is of more than 3 hours and cancelled with less than 3-hour notice, then a certain amount that will be paid, and this is determined based on a set calculation.

Have a question? Submit your questions or feedback anonymously below!

Please note that it may take us longer to provide some answers. If your question hasn’t been answered yet, we will get back to you as soon as we can.