About

What course does Vickers offer ?

Vickers Distance Education offers a “Foundational Level – Personal Support Worker” course, $2,500, which was approved on March 6th, 2025 by the Skilled Trades Office, of the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour. (Attachment 1, PETL approval of Foundational Course, March 24th, 2025).

This certification qualifies people for work in New Brunswick’s Special Care Homes, Adult Residential Facilities and Home Support Agencies.

The 300-hour course consists of 5 Assignments, 5 Tests, 3 Workshops, 70 hours of paid on-the-job training and results in a “Foundational Level – Personal Support Worker” certificate.

What is the difference between the Foundational Level – PSW, and the full PSW course ?

A full PSW course is approximately 1600 – 1800 hours, depending on which trainer you take it from, and prepares you to work in hospitals and nursing homes, as well as Special Care Homes, Adult Residential Facilities, and Home Care Agencies. The price of the full PSW would vary, again, depending on who you took it from, but could be between $8,000 – $13,000.

In March 2025, the Skilled Trades Office revised their PSW Curriculum to clearly show the distinction between the “Foundational Level – PSW” course, formerly called “Entry Level – PSW”, and the full “PSW” training.

The course titles for each level of training are the same, with the differences being the number of hours of study, the level of detail in each course, and one extra course for the full PSW training called “PSW-170: Recovery-based Care, 45 hours.” 

These differences can be more clearly understood by looking at the table below, which compares the two courses by name, and hours of study.  (From the Apprenticeship and Occupational Certificate branch, of the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training & Labour’s Personal Support Worker Curriculum Standard, Page 8). 

All Trainers in New Brunswick must submit their curriculum to the Skilled Trades Office every year for their approval.  This process certifies that each Trainer’s curriculum matches the Office’s curriculum, although there may be differences from one Trainer to another in terms of how the course is offered, pricing, and extra content.