Creative Career Systems wrote the study guidelines for Private Vocational Schools in October 1998, and copyright protected the materials. The Ministry of Health Fast Tracking the Personal Support Worker Program for the existing workforce of agencies, providing homemaking and respite care through the service of CCACs, signed an agreement for these workers in the province of Ontario. The materials were supplied to the National Association of Career Colleges(NACC), along with exams for students that were part of the Common Curriculum Group, a company established for curriculum distribution by Creative Career Systems.

CCS withdrew the support to the NACC   due to lack of initiative on their part in forming an Association for Personal Support Workers to advocate and educate for Front line health care workers, while maintaining standards and a registry for these unregulated health care workers. The NACC then took this work on for establishing the training guidelines for the Ministry.  There is a conflict of interest for the NACC working with the Ministry to provide the guidelines for curriculum to be taught for a PSW. The Ministry of Education Private Vocational Schools Branch should be investigated as to their relationship in the false presentation of NACC as a certification process, and not in any way a consumer protection issue when offering exams to students, or indicating the mandating of schools to belong to NACC in order to register with the Ministry to offer the PSW program. 

The NACC mandate is an association for Career Colleges and as such is in conflict with Ministry guidelines in pretending that the exam offered is for certification. It is not, and it should not be considered as the vehicle by the Ministry for accepting corrupt private schools in the province of Ontario. Private Career Colleges have all been sent letters about the relationship of the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC) selling curriculum and acting as an accrediting body for the program of Personal Support Worker.

Currently, there is a conflict of interest for the NACC to be marketing and selling to the schools the curriculum for training delivery of Personal Support Workers. The NACC is not a registered school. It is unethical conduct on the part of the MTCU PCC to enforce all registration of private schools through this medium of NACC providing training guidelines for delivery to Personal Support Workers.

Ministry Training Colleges and Universities (MTCU) changed the ACT for Private Vocational Schools in 2005. Since that time they have been attempting to clean up unethical private schools that operate in Ontario. In the process, they take liberties to licence schools who are conducting fraudulent activities, (please review the Ombudsman report that is available as a pdf file) while harassing and discriminating against and giving unequal treatment towards the reputable schools providing a service to the public. The mandate of this Ministry is consumer protection, and yet the major issues with this Ministry, among the private career colleges, has been the limited government employment insurance funds for upgrading and training that come from employment insurance dollars, paid for by employees and employers for times of unemployment. These funds are funnelled into publically funded colleges, and many unemployed workers cannot access training through the private schools, but must take their training at community colleges and go into studies for a two year program. The concept of rapid results with just-in-time training for the workforce is being eroded by excessive funding to community colleges. Private sector colleges are challenged with this MTCU by loss of revenue from

• Second Career clients
• increasing cost of compliance
• delays of re-registrations and approvals for program changes
• TCAF rules and audit costs
• Not enough help & support in the sector
• Meeting the MTCU's requirements that are constantly changing and thereby increasing expenses to our operation.
• Too much red tape... which translates to lack of time, lack of money, and often, lack of knowing what is expected of us!

The harm of MTCU in the interference of the workplace, under the guise of consumer protection, is that they are destroying workplace training.  There are exemptions under the ACT for trainers and a copy of the ACT is supplied in this document. The MTCU is overreaching into protectionism, at the risk of individual rights and freedoms to choose your education and training, and the employers rights to maintain a workforce in health care that is skilled, knowledgeable, and current.

The exemptions for registration with MTCU are as follows:

                Programs less than 40 hours in duration

                Programs for which a fee of less than $1,000.00 is charged

                Workplace training for updating skills with employers

A certificate for a PSW results from an educational process, either through public funded colleges, boards of education, or in the case of members of the National Association of Career Colleges (NACC), a membership for private vocational schools offering a third party test for students. This test is not mandatory, but a voluntary test costing $150.00 for the student and/or school. The test does not provide a registry or certification as a PSW. It is simply a grab for funds to assist the National Association of Private Career Colleges. The Community Colleges do not participate in this process, and many private colleges have opted out due to the costs to participate and disillusionment with both the National Association for Career Colleges and the Ontario Association for Career Colleges. In addition, there has been a new Association for Career Colleges developed. Private Career College operators have expressed their interest in membership with this Association, due to the work they are doing to advocate for the industry of Private Career Colleges in Ontario with the regulatory body of Private Career Colleges under the new Education Act 2005 at MTCU.

In the community colleges, there are certificates offered at the end of a program of study as a PSW. These are not certification. Community colleges offer certificates only because they are unable to issue diplomas if the program of study is under two years. Likewise a certificate is issued if you study with the Board of Education Adult Learning Centre. These are all publically funded, meaning your tax dollars subsidize the course costs for PSW.

Costs vary for training as a PSW in Ontario. In Adult Learning Centres the costs may be $800.00 to get a certificate, or in the community colleges $1,500.00 to acquire a certificate, or in the private schools, where there is no subsidizing of the program, you may acquire a diploma for $3,000.00 to $5,000.00 for taking your training, and in addition you must purchase your books, uniforms, and in some cases additional workplace training placements in each of the programs.