What this program offers

The Department is accepting applications from organizations interested in receiving funding from the new Personal Support Worker Retirement Savings Innovation Program (PSW-RSIP). Eligible organizations can apply for funding between $1 million and $30 million. Projects must operate for 24 months over the 2026 and 2027 calendar years.

The process involves two steps. This first step is a competitive call for concepts (CFC). Your concept should provide high-level information on the proposed administration of the pilot project, the structure and parameters of the incentives to be provided, the PSWs expected to participate in your pilot project, and how you will meet the objective of providing services in both official languages. If you successfully complete step 1 you will be invited to step 2 to develop a comprehensive project proposal. In step 2, you will be asked to provide additional information about your project, including detailed projections for PSW participation, savings and incentives paid, and of administrative costs. You will also need to outline your strategies for meeting the program's performance data requirements, ensuring the eligibility of participating PSWs, ensuring accurate incentive payments, and marketing the pilot project to reach PSWs. Additionally, you will need to explain which of your own resources will support the pilot project, whether the project is scalable or could continue after the federal contribution ends and outline contingency plans in case of oversubscription.

If your proposal is fully developed and believe you can demonstrate how it meets the requirements of step 2 by January 24, 2025, contact us immediately at edsc.pssp-psw.esdc@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca to receive additional information. The assessment of such proposals could be fast-tracked and, if successful, the project(s) could be launched before January 2026.

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Program objectives

The objective of this CFC is to invite eligible organizations to submit applications that outline concepts for pilot projects focused on retirement savings incentives targeted at PSWs lacking workplace retirement security coverage. The program seeks to help the government test various approaches for encouraging private retirement savings among personal support workers and evaluate the most effective parameters. Additionally, it aims to enhance the financial security of participating PSWs in preparation for retirement and support their retention in the long-term care sector.

Considerations

Considerations will be given to proposals that help achieve the following objectives:

  • achieving a diversity of projects in terms of savings mechanisms, and incentives structures and parameters
  • supporting diverse models to reach the ultimate recipients and administer the pilot projects
  • achieving diversity in the types of initial and ultimate recipients (the PSWs). Where projects are otherwise comparable in terms of their overall merit, preferred initial contribution recipient will be not-for-profit organizations and preferred ultimate contribution recipients will be those with lower income
  • achieving the greater geographical coverage possible across Canada; and
  • seeking official language representation across Canada

Glossary

Here is a list of key terms used within this application guide.

Calendar year
The period between January 1 (first day of the calendar year) and December 31 (last day of the calendar year).
Call for concepts (CFC)
A 2-step process is used to determine Grants and Contributions funding. Step 1 is a competitive process whereby applicants submit their concepts. Those successful in the first step are invited to the second step. Step 2 consists of developing a full proposal based on the successful step 1 concept.
Contributions matching

The contributions redistributed from the initial recipient to the ultimate recipient as incentives must be based on a calculation that includes at least one element that wholly or partially matches funds invested in tax-assisted private savings vehicles by ultimate recipients.

  • the matching component could be a fixed amount of incentive per dollar saved or could vary depending on the specific circumstances of each ultimate recipient, based on factors such as length of participation in the pilot, amounts saved, hours worked, etc.
  • in addition to the matching component, there may be other forms of incentives provided to ultimate recipients to reward behaviors conducive to saving for retirement, but these do not necessarily have to based on actual amounts saved
  • the incentives must be deposited into the tax-assisted savings vehicle that led to, or is associated with, the earning of those incentives
Fiscal year
The period between April 1 (first day of the fiscal year) and March 31 (last day of the fiscal year).
Initial recipient
An entity that has received transfer payment funding from a department and further distributes that funding to ultimate recipients is known as the initial recipient The initial recipient maintains a relationship with both the department and the ultimate recipients. They have independence in how they distribute contributions by implementing a clear, transparent, and open decision-making process, which includes the selection of ultimate recipients and the projects or activities to be funded.
Innovative approach
An innovative approach proposes something new that has not been done before. For example, it may involve tailoring a strategy to meet the specific needs of a vulnerable population.
Official language minority communities
This term is defined as English-speaking communities established within the province of Québec and French-speaking communities established outside the province of Québec. ESDC is committed to enhancing the vitality of the English and French linguistic minorities in Canada by supporting their development and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.
Personal support worker (PSWs)

The eligibility of specific individuals is based on their job descriptions. Workers whose tasks align with those described in the 2021 National Occupational Classification (NOC) categories Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (NOC 33102) and for Home support workers, caregivers and related occupations (NOC 44101) are eligible, as long as they support seniors or persons with disabilities and are employed in:

  • health care establishments
  • hospitals
  • nursing homes
  • assisted care facilities
  • mental health
  • addiction centers and
  • home care
Redistribution of contributions
The funding model selected for this program is a redistribution model where contributions are provided to an “initial recipient” who is responsible for further distributing the funds to other parties, referred to as the “ultimate recipients”. While the initial recipient’s project contributes to departmental results, that recipient is independent from the department and is responsible for all aspects of administering their pilot project.
Tax-assisted private savings vehicle
This refers to savings vehicles supported through the Income Tax Act by the Government of Canada. More specifically, it includes retirement savings in registered pension plans (RPPs), deferred profit-sharing plans (DPSPs), registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs). It also encompasses Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs), as well as group RRSPs and group TFSAs.
Ultimate recipient
An individual who has received a payment from an initial recipient is referred to as the ultimate recipient. The ultimate recipient has a relationship only with the initial recipient and does not have a direct relationship with the department. In the case of this program, the ultimate recipients are personal support workers.
2SLGBTQIA+
Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex and asexual. The symbol “+” represents the wide spectrum of gender identities, sexual orientations and romantic orientations not explicitly named.

The choice of letters or symbols and the order in which they are presented may differ depending on the context and the audience. Some examples of abbreviations include:

  • LGBT
  • LGBTI
  • LGBTQ
  • LGBTQ2
  • LGBTQ2S
  • LGBTQ2IA
  • LGBTQ2IA+
  • 2SLGBTQIA+

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