Inside the Circle – October 14, 2026

We’re excited to announce the winners of our Enhanced Employee Referral Program draw!

A big congratulations to our 3 winners:

• Eguonor Rachael Azebiri-Victor
• Santoshi Biswokarma
• Rachel Canoy

Thank you to everyone who participated in the program and helped us connect with great candidates by referring friends, family, and members of your network to Circle of Care. Your referrals play an important role in helping us grow our team and continue providing exceptional care to our clients and community.

Our HR team will be reaching out directly to each winner to arrange a convenient date and time to pick up their gift card from the Circle of Care office.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Step Count Challenge. We loved seeing your photos, celebrating your progress, and watching everyone come together to make the challenge both fun and engaging.

Top 3 Overall

• 1st Place: Navkiran Kataria – 915,966 steps
• 2nd Place: Eloisa Vicente – 832,065 steps
• 3rd Place: Steve Jackson – 640,305 steps

Challenge Draw Winners

• 250K Draw: Sharon Dizo
• 70K Week Draw: Priyanka Christian
• 50K Consistency Draw: Josie Campus
• Strong Finish Draw: Francisca Selibio
• Photo Walk Draw: Laura Giles
• Sunrise/Sunset Draw: Andrea Antal

Participation Prize Draw Winners

• Crispiana Toledo
• Maya Das
• Aprilyn Bolusan
• Allan Bautista

A big congratulations to all of our winners! We will be reaching out to the winners directly with details on prize pickup.

Subway Line 1 Delays at Night

• When: October 13-15
• Where: Subway service on Line 1 between Vaughan Metropolitan Centre and Finch West stations will operate on a single track nightly starting at 11 p.m. (Customers may experience delays of up to 15 minutes between these stations.)

Subway Line 2 Early Nightly Closure

• When: October 13-16
• Where: Subway service on Line 2 between Kipling and Jane stations will end nightly at 11:59 p.m.

TCS 5K

• When: October 17
• Where: The following roads will be closed:
  • Bay St. (Queen St. W. to Front St.): Closed from 4:00 AM to 1:00 PM
  • Bay St. (Front St. to Lake Shore Blvd. W.): Closed from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
  • Lake Shore Blvd. W. (Yonge St. to Bathurst St.): Closed from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM

TCS Marathon & Half-Marathon

• When: October 18 (3am-4pm)
• Where: Here is the general layout of what to expect on Sunday:
  • Lake Shore Boulevard (both East and West) is entirely closed to vehicles for the majority of the day. You cannot drive right along the lake or cross over Lake Shore Boulevard at most intersections.
  • Yonge Street and Bay Street are closed from the north end of downtown all the way down to the water.
  • Full details and road closures

Line 1 – Early Nightly Closure

• When: October 19-22
• Details: Subway service will end at 11PM between Eglinton and York Mills stations. Shuttle buses will run.

October is Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM).

Help create a more inclusive workplace by:

• Treating everyone with dignity and respect
• Avoiding assumptions about abilities or needs
• Using respectful language
• Supporting workplace accommodations
• Considering accessibility in everyday interactions

By making inclusion part of our everyday actions, we can help create a workplace where everyone feels respected, supported, and valued.

Responsive behaviours are often a way that people with dementia communicate discomfort, confusion, pain, or needs that are not met.

Common causes include:

• Pain or physical discomfort
• Difficulty communicating needs
• Confusion or memory loss
• Anxiety, depression, or fear
• Feeling overwhelmed by their surroundings

What can you do?

• Look for what the person may be trying to communicate
• Stay calm and respond with empathy
• Watch for signs of pain or discomfort
• Avoid rushing and provide reassurance

Understanding the cause of a responsive behaviour can help reduce distress for the person and create a safer environment for everyone.

Through Perkopolis, you can save up to 10% on CN Tower General Admission tickets!

Need help signing up? Perkopolis Sign-Up Steps

Each week, we’re proud to recognize the PSWs who are celebrating their work anniversaries. Every anniversary—no matter the number of years—represents the dedication, compassion, and commitment you bring to supporting our clients and community. Thank you for the important role you play at Circle of Care. This week’s list includes PSWs celebrating work anniversaries between October 11-17. 

Congratulations to the following staff on their years of service with Circle of Care:

October 11

• 4 Years: Larisa Beletsky, Madianne Joseph, Nafisatou Jatta, Oksana Vilyatser, Richard Pajota

October 12

• 5 (MILESTONE!): Arlene Soriano, Cristina Santos, Genalin Gonzaga, Rasheil Ragasajo

October 13

• 6 Years: Donalyn Morales
• 23 Years: Ke Yu Chen

October 14

• 11 Years: Mary Joy Cabael
• 24 Years: Ghenet Yhdego

October 15

• 8 Years: Feng Liu, Juliet Agramon, Lila Rai
• 14 Years: Dionesia Tawagen, Jurita Reyes, Maria Gomez Leon, Sandra Howell, Sevda Niftaliyeva

Individuals celebrating milestone anniversaries (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 years) will receive a one-time cash award to their pay cheque at the end of the quarter. Payment amount will depend on service length.

High Five for PSW Haben Mehreteab

“Haben is excellent, and we would love to have her as a regular PSW.” – Client’s Daughter

High Five for PSW Elvira Galang

“I am extremely happy with Elvira’s services and want her to know she is doing a very good job.” – Client

High Five for PSW Maryna Sazonova

“Maryna is a great worker who not only completes her tasks but always goes above and beyond.” – Client’s Daughter

High Five for PSW Kimberly Rivas

“Kimberly has very positive energy and made a great impression while providing service.” – Client’s Daughter

High Five for PSW Faith Nduta Gichuri

“Faith is very pleasant, helpful, and went above and beyond during her visit.” – Client

High Five for PSW Sheilah Momanyi

“Sheilah is very pleasant and helps my partner feel comfortable and at ease.” – Client’s Spouse

High Five for PSW Elizabeth Ajayi

“I am very pleased and happy with the service Elizabeth provides.” – Client

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.

I have a client that I am scheduled to see for 4 hours once per week. A few weeks ago, I went to my usual visit, and my client mentioned that there wasn’t much work to be done because she had to go out. I took out her garbage, washed her dishes and left per the client’s request. I called my CSS and told them that I was released earlier than usual. Since the client let me leave early, why did I only get paid for 2 hours instead of 4?

For clarification regarding the verification and payment of this visit, please follow up directly with your Service Coordinator and/or CSS. They will be able to review the visit details and provide further clarification regarding the hours recorded.

I have been assigned to 2 clients at the same time, usually on weekends. When I call Circle of Care and ask them to fix it nothing is being done. Are call centre agents there for nothing?

Thank you for bringing this concern forward. We understand how frustrating it can be to be scheduled with two clients at the same time, especially on weekends.

The Call Centre is available to assist with scheduling concerns and will inform the working Service Coordinator of the issue. However, the Service Coordinator may not be able to address it immediately due to other scheduling priorities and client needs. Our Service Coordinators do their best to manage schedules effectively based on PSW availability and client requirements.

If you experience a scheduling conflict, please contact the Call Centre so the concern can be documented and communicated to the Service Coordinator. You may also follow up with your Service Coordinator and/or CSS for further clarification and assistance.

We appreciate your patience and your efforts to ensure clients receive the care they need.

What is the point of us giving you a full day shift from morning to night if we get only 4 or 5 clients? And if we have any issues and call the live agent, they are really rude, and they will ask us, “What should we do about that?”

Thank you for your feedback. 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 – Zarana Kansiyawala (ext.232) or Tariq Shafi (ext. 256).

If you have any concerns about the professionalism of any of the call center staff, you are always welcome to reach out to the Operations Supervisor, Alicia Cimini, at ext.424.

I’m kindly requesting that you restock the shower gowns. I have been to the office to pick up supplies, but the only gowns available are the isolation ones. It’s so unfair to go to the next client when you have gotten wet while giving showers.

We have plastic shower gowns in stock. When ordering gowns, you simply need to indicate “change to plastic shower gowns” in the comment box when placing your order, and you will receive the correct gowns.

Can we please consider scheduling the two PSWs at the same time, or with only a 10-15 minute interval, when a client requires 2-person assist? Some clients and families are having a hard time when the second PSW arrives much later. This would help ensure safer care and make things easier for both the client and PSWs. I believe this could benefit everyone.

Thank you for bringing this concern forward. We understand that coordinating the arrival times of two PSWs for clients requiring a 2-person assist is important for safe and effective care, as well as for the comfort of clients and their families.

We encourage you to discuss specific scheduling concerns with your Service Coordinator, who can review the individual circumstances and scheduling needs. Our Service Coordinators do their best to schedule visits as effectively as possible, taking into consideration PSW availability, client needs, and other scheduling requirements.

While we cannot always guarantee that both PSWs will arrive at the same time or within a specific 10–15 minute window, we will continue to make every reasonable effort to coordinate schedules in a way that supports safe and consistent care.

Thank you for sharing your feedback and for your commitment to providing the best possible care for our clients.

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.

If you experience violence, harassment, discrimination, or hate at work or during working hours, please report it to your Supervisor or Human Resources.

If you would prefer to remain anonymous, you can submit a report using the Anonymous Incident Reporting Form by clicking the button below.

You may choose to include your name to help with the investigation, but it is not required. Anonymous reports will still be reviewed and investigated.