Home Support Workers
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Job description
These individuals provide home care services to people living with a disability or who are experiencing a loss of autonomy. They adapt their services to their clients’ capabilities and psychosocial context. They give basic care (help with walking and dressing, hygiene care, etc.). They perform certain household chores and light housework. They are employed in private homes and other residential settings.
Environment
- Controlled ambient temperature
- Odours
Main tasks
- Keep clients company.
- Plan meals, prepare and serve them, as required.
- Feed people or help them feed themselves.
- Provide routine medical care (change dressings, administer medication, etc.).
- Do laundry, wash dishes, and make beds.
Advancement and mobility
- There is some mobility among the occupations in this group.
Training and requirements
Formation
Sometimes required
- First aid and CPR training are usually required.
- A Class 5 driver's licence is often required.
- Experience in home economics may be required.
- Training in principles for moving clients safely (PDSB) may be required.
- Training in care of the elderly, disabled, or convalescent may be required.
Main skills and characteristics
Skills
- Data collection
- Service oriented
- Oral expression
- Social perception
- Active listening
- Reading comprehension
- Result evaluation
- Coordination
- Teaching
- Time management
- Judgment and decision-making
- Solving complex problems
- Equipment maintenance
- Equipment selection
Abilities
- Oral comprehension
- Verbal skills
- Speech clarity
- Near vision
- Awareness of issues
- Deductive reasoning
- Dynamic physical flexibility
- Overall balance of the body
- Physical flexibility in extension
- Speech recognition
- Overall coordination of the body
- Static muscle power
- Written comprehension
- Hand-arm stability
- Manual dexterity
- Colour perception and distinction
- Sound origin identification
- Inductive reasoning
- Limb coordination
- Auditory attention
- Hearing sensitivity
- Information processing speed
- Information organization
- Selective attention
- Peripheral vision
- Time sharing
- Response orientation
Knowledge and attributes
- Capacity to establish and maintain interpersonal relations
- Knowledge of customer and personalized services
- Honesty
- Capacity to be discrete
- Friendliness
- Assiduity and punctuality
- Respect others
- Availability
- Patience
- Open-mindedness
Interests
- Assist and advise
- Assist or care for people
Personality profiles (RIASEC)
- Social
- People with this profile prefer to be in contact with others, in particular to entertain, help or teach them.
- Realistic
- People with this profile prefer carrying out concrete tasks and being physically involved in what they do.
- Enterprising
- People with this profile prefer having responsibilities, influencing others and responding to challenges.
Appellation d’emploi liée (à traduire)
Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations (CNP 44101)
Skill type
Education, law and social, community and government services
Last update: January 29, 2026