Long-term care · retirement homes · PSWs
First aid and CPR for long-term care staff and PSWs
The certification you need
Intermediate First Aid + CPR-BLS, what most employers ask for
No first aid or CPR requirement appears anywhere in Ontario's long-term care or retirement home legislation, or in PSW registration. Your employer sets this.
Almost everyone in this sector believes the Fixing Long-Term Care Act or the Retirement Homes Act requires care staff to hold first aid with CPR. We checked, and they do not. The words "first aid", "CPR" and "resuscitation" do not appear in either statute or its regulation, and PSW registration does not require a certificate either.
That does not mean nothing applies. It means the requirement you are actually satisfying is the general workplace one plus your employer's own hiring policy, and in this sector employers are demanding, which is why the practical answer still ends up being a real course.
Requirements change and can vary by employer, site and role, so always confirm what yours asks for before booking. Not sure? Call us at 705-985-3478 or send us a message, and we’ll work it out with you.
Your course
Intermediate First Aid & CPR
Intermediate First Aid & CPR with CPR-BLS is the combination most healthcare employers and college placements ask for. Some ask for CPR-C, and a few for Basic First Aid only. Intermediate with BLS covers those as well, so it is the safe choice if yours has not said. Confirm your employer's wording before booking.
Price
$138 + HST
Online at home
9 hours
In class with us
7.5 hours
CPR level
CPR-BLS
What does CPR-BLS mean? The three CPR levels, and who each one is for.
The online part is required and must be finished before your in-class day.
Pick a date and book
Booking is subject to our course policies: refunds, date changes, photo ID and what to bring on the day.
What the requirement actually says
- Regulation 1101 applies to a home like any other workplace: with more than five workers on a shift, someone on site must hold the higher certificate the regulation names, now Intermediate First Aid. That is nearly every home.
- That duty sits on the employer, and is discharged by having a qualified person in charge of the first aid station. It does not, by itself, require every PSW to hold a certificate.
- Regulation 1101 contains no CPR requirement at all. The word does not appear in it.
- In practice, most healthcare employers and college placements ask for the Intermediate level with CPR at the BLS (Healthcare Provider) level. That is an employer and program requirement, and it is the one that will actually be checked when you are hired or placed.
- PSW registration with the oversight authority does not require a first aid certificate.
Source: None in the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 and O. Reg. 246/22, the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 and O. Reg. 166/11, or PSW registration. The applicable legal duty is the general workplace one: R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 1101 under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
Check it yourself
- Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021, search it for "first aid" and there are no results
- Retirement Homes Act, 2010 and O. Reg. 166/11
- R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 1101: First Aid Requirements, the duty that does apply, as an employer duty
- WSIB: First Aid Program
The Act everyone cites doesn't mention it
The Fixing Long-Term Care Act and the Retirement Homes Act are cited constantly as the source of a PSW first aid requirement, and neither mentions first aid or CPR anywhere. Nor does PSW registration. We would rather tell you that than let you think you are meeting a legal obligation you have misidentified, because what you are actually meeting is your employer's hiring standard, and employers differ. Ask for their wording. If their wording pairs an older course name with BLS, they mean Intermediate First Aid with CPR-BLS in today's names, and that is the combination to book.
Long-term care & PSWs: common questions
My employer asked for first aid with BLS. What do I book?
Intermediate First Aid & CPR, choosing the CPR-BLS level at checkout. An employer who names a first aid level with BLS means the higher one, called Intermediate First Aid since 22 June 2026.
Is CPR-BLS actually required, or would CPR-C do?
No law requires either, so it comes down to what your employer or placement asks for. Most healthcare employers specify BLS, also called Healthcare Provider level, and a placement coordinator will usually reject CPR-C if the paperwork says BLS. If your employer's wording is vague, ask them. It costs the same with us.
Do I need this to register as a PSW?
No. PSW registration does not require a first aid or CPR certificate. Employers routinely do, which is why nearly every working PSW holds one.
Does my employer have to pay for it?
Where you are one of the home's designated first aiders under Regulation 1101, the WSIB's position is that the employer covers the training and your wages while you take it. Where certification is a condition of being hired, the WSIB says the applicant covers it. If you are already employed and being asked to certify, it is worth asking which of those applies to you.
Training more than one person?
We’ll run the course at your site on a date that suits your operation, or host your group at our Barrie centre. Group pricing starts at six people, and a smaller group is welcome at that rate. One invoice for the lot.