Inside the Circle – September 16, 2025

Please take a few minutes to fill out the Global Workforce Survey. This survey gives you the chance to share your thoughts about your workplace. Your answers will help us understand what is going well and what we can make better.

The survey is anonymous (your name will not be shared). Thank you in advance for your participation!

Please complete the survey by October 31, 2025. 

Subway – Line 1: Early Night Closures 

• When: September 15 – 19, 2025
• TTC Changes: Subway service along Line 1 (Yonge-University) between Sheppard West and St. Clair West stations will end at 11:59 PM nightly (shuttle buses will run). 

RBC Race for the Kids

• When: Saturday, September 20, 2025  (7:30 AM to 11:00 AM)
• Road Closures: Yonge St. (Sheppard Ave. to Drewry Ave./Cummer Ave.), Southbound Yonge St. (Park Home Ave. to North York Blvd.), North York Blvd. (Beecroft Rd. to Yonge St.), and Beecroft Rd. (North York Blvd. to Park Home Ave.)
• TTC Route Changes: 36 Finch West, 42 Cummer, 125 Drewry, 53 Steeles East, 60 Steeles West, 97 Yonge, 320 Yonge Night, 953 Steeles East Express, and 960 Steeles West Express.

Subway – Line 2: Multiple Night/Weekend Closures 

• When: September 2 – 30, 2025
• TTC Changes: Subway service along Line 2, West of Kipling Station, will be impacted, including early-weeknight and full-weekend shutdowns. Please read the TTC Subway Service Advisories for more information.

If you have already booked your spot for your massage session, please check your schedule to make sure you can still come. If something has changed and you are unable to make it, please cancel your booking. This way, someone else can join. Spots are limited, and cancelling helps everyone get a chance.

Tap HERE to cancel or reschedule, if needed.

Appointments must be booked through Circle of Care Training Hub or by calling 905-272-9214 or by texting 647‑496‑5189 with the following details (full name, email address, training location, and preferred session time).

Important Reminders:

• Please arrive 15 minutes before your training session starts.
• After booking, speak with your Service Coordinator if you need help rescheduling or have client conflicts. Try to choose a time when you have no client visits.
• Your schedule will be marked as unavailable during training. No need to sign in via phone.
• You’ll be paid 4 hours for CPR training and 1 hour for mask fit. This will be added to your schedule 1–2 weeks after the session and listed as ‘Miscellaneous’ on your paystub.
• All bookings and cancellations must be done through the online portal. You’ll receive confirmation and reminders via email/text.

At Circle of Care, we work hard to prevent workplace violence and harassment. We want all employees to feel safe at work. Our Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) reviewed the level of risk for workplace violence and harassment. They found that the risk is medium for our community employees. Because of this, we want to share the survey results and our Action Plan with you.

Action Plan: 

• Reviewing policies and programs to make it clear that violence and harassment are not allowed. If you ever feel unsafe, remove yourself and report it to the office.
• Updating training with more information on how to respond to clients who act inappropriately.
• Continuing annual training and communication on workplace violence and harassment.
• Sending reminders to employees to report all incidents. 
• Encouraging CSSs to discuss workplace violence and harassment at team meetings.
• Reminding clients and caregivers through our newsletter that Circle of Care does not tolerate violence or harassment.
• Continue to track and investigate all reports of violence and harassment, including client-to-worker, worker-to-worker, and community violence.

You can save 30% on men’s and women’s shoes from Skechers all year when you use Perkopolis! Use the promo code SKXDPERKOP30 when shopping online at www.skechers.ca or mention the retail code G8S in-store.

For more savings, register for Perkopolis below! 

On September 30 (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation), we remember Indigenous children who were forced to go to residential and day schools. Many children never came back home, and survivors and their families still live with the pain these schools caused. This day is also a time for us to learn about this history and work toward respect and healing with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.

Reconciliation means:

• Acknowledging the past.
• Respecting Indigenous rights and treaties.
• Letting go of negative ideas and stereotypes.

To learn more and take action, you can: 

• Learn about residential schools and take tours, at the Woodland Cultural Centre.
• Visit Mohawk Village Memorial Park to honour children from the Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School.
• Use the Indigenous Resource Guide.
• Explore Two Spirit and LGBTQIA Indigenous resources.
• Watch the Awakenings short film.

Looking after others starts with looking after yourself. This article gives you 3 simple self-care ideas you can use in your daily life.

We are pleased to welcome the new following PSWs to Circle of Care:

• Gelareh Daneshmand
• Kiana John
• Navkiran Kataria
• Gita Gautam
• Maria Adelfa Baldovino
• Jeanny Remocal
• Irish Mae Mercado
• Kauthara Nakirijja
• Bushira Fuseini
• Mariam Mustapha
• Joan Kose
• Ritu Magar
• Jenie Dupo
• Keilah Cheruto

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.

High Five for PSW Oluchukwu Aloekwe

Oluchukwu is amazing. They do such an excellent job, and I’m so grateful for the care they provide. – Client’s son

High Five for PSW Precelyne Mariyappan

Precelyne is wonderful — not only is she great at her job, but she’s also such a lovely person to be around. – Client

High Five for PSW Canvis Phillips

Canvis is a great worker. I always feel well cared for, and I’m very pleased with the support she gives me. – Client

High Five for PSW Arlene Veras

From the very first visit, Arlene was fantastic. She made me feel comfortable right away and did such a great job. – Client

High Five for PSW Manika Manika

I really like Manika. She does a wonderful job and even speaks Italian with me, which makes me feel so comfortable and at home. She always goes above and beyond with her care. – Client

High Five for PSW Irene Gitau

Irene provides such a high level of service. I truly appreciate all the effort and care she puts in. – Client

High Five for PSW Marie Fernandez

Marie is terrific — she always makes my day better with her kindness and care. – Client

High Five for PSW Jocelyn Gener

Jocelyn does such a great job. I really admire her strong work ethic and how dedicated she is to helping me. – Client

High Five for PSW Hisgrace Soblessed

I’m very happy with Hisgrace. The service I receive is excellent, and I feel very well looked after. – Client

High Five for PSW Denise Samuel

I couldn’t be happier with Denise’s care. She is so patient and understanding, and I feel truly grateful to have her in my life. – Client

Are we supposed to do whatever clients ask us to do or follow the care plan? Some clients ask to do things that are not in the care plan and if I do those first, then the things that are written in the care plan I don’t get to finish because of the waste of time that I spent doing other things.

It is your duty to be following the care plan which was designed for the client by your Supervisor (CSS) or Case Manager (CM). It is your responsibility to connect with your CSS to inform them of clients who often ask you to perform tasks that are not in the client’s care plan. The client’s Supervisor or Case Manager will then follow up with client to discuss and adjust care plan and/or remind the client/family of the limitations of the PSW role as needed.

If your client is giving instructions on how to assist them while there is no care plan available, you can perform tasks that are safe and within your PSW scope of practice. Be sure to explain to your client that you can assist based on their request until your Supervisor has had a chance to discuss and develop a care plan with the client.

The Call Centre staff shouldn’t act like they are entitled. We just want an override or for them to log out of the visit, but they’ll ask us a bunch of questions. It sounds like they don’t want to be bothered at all to help us. 

We apologize for your experience; Circle of Care strives to ensure polite and respectful communication across all departments. As a first point-of-contact agent, the call centre representatives are required to information gather and conduct preliminary questions to ensure proper procedure resolution is completed, reported, and/or escalated on your behalf. If you have concerns or feedback with the quality of your call centre call experience, we encourage you to notify the Operations Supervisor, Alicia Cimini ext. 155.

Some clients give gifts or something in appreciation of our hard work and we are not allowed to accept it. Why can’t Circle of Care give us gifts or anything instead so PSWs won’t be tempted to accept what clients offer?

Thank you for your question.  We deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication that PSWs put into caring for our clients.  The reason we have a policy against accepting gifts from clients is to protect both you and the client – it helps maintain professional boundaries and prevents any perception of favouritism, pressure or obligation, especially in vulnerable situations.

That said, you are absolutely right that appreciation matters.  While we may not be able to allow client gifts, we do have an employee awards and recognition program to show appreciation to our employees – whether through our High Five Program, Champions of Care Awards, Spotlight Awards, Milestone Awards, or appreciation events.  Please check out our awards and recognition page for more information.

We are always actively exploring ways to recognize and thank our staff.  If you or colleagues have suggestions on what kind of recognition would feel meaningful, we’re open to hearing them.  Please send your suggestions to HRDept@circleofcare.com or share them via our Suggestion Box.

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.