Cert in Personal Support Worker at Durham College in Oshawa, Canada is a certificate in Health Sciences programme. The programme runs for 2 semesters, delivered on campus. Teaching is in English. Tuition for international students is CAD 15,489 per year (CAD 2,776 per year for local students).
At a glance
Degree:Certificate
Field:Health Sciences
Duration: 2 semesters
Delivery: On Campus
Language: English
Local tuition: CAD 2,776 / year
International tuition: CAD 15,489 / year
Information for the 2027/28 academic year · Last reviewed September 2026 ·
Program details
Overview
Personal hygiene, mobility, preparing meals and taking essential medication are elements of daily life that most people take for granted, but many individuals cannot perform these tasks independently. The personal support worker (PSW) is the front-line care provider whose responsibilities focus on providing personal care and support that includes activities of daily living with client populations across all institutional, community care and service settings. PSWs provide compassionate, client-centred care to enhance and maintain the quality of everyday life.
Requirements
Admission Requirements: Domestic: Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) or Mature Student Status, plus English at Grade 12 (C or U). Biology at Grade 11 or 12 (or a biology upgrade, C, M or U) is recommended, as are keyboarding and basic computer skills. International: entry is highly competitive - Durham ranks qualified international applicants on the admission-requirement marks they submit, the average needed shifts from intake to intake, and clearing the minimum guarantees nothing. A qualification assessed as equivalent to an OSSD is required, plus Grade 12 English (C or U) for applicants from English-speaking countries, or IELTS Academic 6.0 overall with no band under 5.5, TOEFL iBT 80 with no section under 20, or Duolingo 105. Among school-leavers the strongest admission-requirement marks are preferred; among applicants who already hold post-secondary credentials, preference goes to a health or social science background - psychology, sociology and social work, developmental services and disability studies, gerontology, health promotion and nutrition, kinesiology, occupational and physical therapy, pharmacy or nursing.
Application Details
Start Date:Three intakes a year - September, January and May. Current cycle class starts: 8 September 2026, 11 January 2027 and 3 May 2027.
Application Deadline:Domestic (apply at ontariocolleges.ca): equal-consideration date 1 February 2026 for September 2026 entry, 1 October 2026 for January 2027 entry and 1 February 2027 for May 2027 entry - Durham's standing rule is 1 February for a September start, 1 October for a January start and 1 February for a May start. Applications completed after the equal-consideration date are still accepted and assessed while seats remain. International applicants face a separate and much earlier program-specific deadline - do not use the domestic dates. Durham publishes its own dated equal-consideration table for Personal Support Worker (PSWK), set roughly eight months ahead of each intake; the rows it has published are May 2025 entry closing 15 September 2024 with offers released 1-15 October 2024, September 2025 closing 15 January 2025 with offers 1-15 February 2025, January 2026 closing 15 April 2025 with offers 1-15 May 2025, and May 2026 closing 15 September 2025 with offers 1-15 October 2025. That table has not been extended past the May 2026 intake, so Durham publishes no international deadline for the September 2026, January 2027 and May 2027 intakes now listed on the program page - confirm the current date with Durham's international office before applying, and do not assume the domestic 1 February / 1 October dates apply. A complete application including every required educational and supporting document must reach Durham by the international deadline; Durham then ranks all qualified applicants and releases offers according to seat availability. International applicants apply through Durham College's own international application, not ontariocolleges.ca.
