Skills For Change Metro·Toronto, Ontario
The Clinical Counsellor provides high-quality mental health support, crisis intervention, and holistic care planning for newcomers and refugees. They are also responsible for conducting intake assessments, facilitating information sessions, and maintaining accurate client records.
Position Title: Clinical Counsellor
Department: Newcomer Services
COMPANY: Skills for Change
Reports to: Senior Manager, Newcomer Services
Contract type: Indefinite (Union)
HOURS: 35 hours per week (Monday – Friday, occasional evenings and/or weekend hours)
$28.84 per hour
Start date: Immediately
Located on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, Skills for Change (SfC) is working towards advancing the Sustainable Development Goals for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. Named Charity Village's Best Non-Profit Employer - Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and winner of the 2021 Canada Volunteer Awards for Innovation, our organization is committed to reducing poverty, improve mental health, eliminating gender-based violence, building community, eradicating systemic racism, and settling and creating sustainable communities for all immigrants, refugees, and underserved communities. Start your career with SfC and join our 40-year history of creating innovative programming to build welcoming and equitable communities.
With 40 years of operations, Skills for Change is a highly respected non-profit charity with a province wide reputation for pioneering programs that respond to shifting immigration and workplace trends and lead to employment. We offer a range of accelerated programs including mentoring, employment, settlement, language training together with specialized programs for skilled trades, women, and youth. We have 5 locations across the GTA and serve 16,000 clients annually. We believe we are in the best position to provide thought leadership through evidence-based programming, impact stories and proactive policy advocacy using knowledge mobilization products.
Reporting to the Senior Manager, Newcomer Services this Clinical Counsellor will provide high quality and responsive mental health counselling support to support newcomers, refugees and underserved populations across Ontario with their mental health and wellness. In addition, the role will assist the program participants with disorders of thought, cognition, emotional regulation, perception, or memory that may seriously disrupt their judgment, insight, behavior, communication, interpersonal relationships, and social/ professional.
● Experience and sensitivity in dealing with members of diverse cultural and racial backgrounds including visible and invisible dimensions of diversity.
● Knowledge or understanding of the socioeconomic, cultural, political and other issues impacting the health and wellbeing of immigrants and refugee women, and seniors including those who recently migrated to Canada.
● Demonstrated commitment to high standards of culturally sensitive service delivery within an anti-racist and anti-oppressive framework.
● Knowledge of community mental health and other resources available to immigrants and refugees including women, seniors, LGBTQI2S+, and other populations across the GTA.
● Demonstrated ability in using discretion in dealing with highly sensitive and confidential issues relating to adults from equity seeking groups.
● Good organizational skills and ability to multitask in a quick-paced work environment while maintaining a high level of accuracy, confidentiality and professionalism.
● Demonstrated a high degree of initiation, risk management, time management and problem-solving ability.
● Intermediate to master level skills in Microsoft (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).
● We encourage applications from candidates with lived experience similar to the clients we serve.
Duties: And responsibilities:
● Conduct case consultation, wellness checks, client intake, risk assessment, safety planning, crisis intervention, psychoeducation and other interventions with clients either by telephone, video conferencing or face-to-face interactions in the client’s preferred environment and within the standards of practice that meet the agency accreditation, regulatory body and funder requirements.
● Support wraparound service delivery by coordinating with caseworkers, instructors, program staff, and external community partners to offer holistic care plans.
● Provide intervention support for clients with or without non-disclosed trauma history through active listening, debriefing experiences, validating feelings, and respecting client choices and decisions.
● Assess clients’ needs, level of risk, and suitability for the program while maintaining clients’ confidentiality.
● Design, promote and organize various online and in-person information sessions on adults related issues such as trauma, mental wellness, stress management, employment supports, building confidence and planning for the future.
● Register clients for settlement workshops, information sessions, mentoring and other networking activities.
● Make appropriate referrals to community mental health services that are outside of the scope of this program and other supports such as employment, food security, housing, settlement and social services.
● Identify and participate in areas of professional development and training that are critical to the needs of the client population.
● Ensure that all client case notes are up to date and client follow up is carried out.
● Conduct clients’ satisfaction surveys to inform program development and expansion as required and collaborate with other programs across the organization.
● Understand newcomer client needs and challenges, meeting the annual target set by the funder.
● Data management, using CRM/OCMS to enter client Mental Health Services at SfC.
● Ensure monthly, quarterly reporting to Supervisor include client challenges and success stories.
● Perform other duties as assigned by the supervisor and management.
Qualifications: And other skills:
● Bachelor’s degree in social work, Counselling Psychology or related field is required.
● Minimum 2 years of experience in group and individual counselling or crisis support work with adults and families, with an emphasis on racialized/refugee/newcomer/immigrant clients required.
● Must be a registered certified counsellor with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) or some other regulatory bodies under the Regulated Health Professions Act.
● Familiarity with suicide risk assessment and management, safety planning, and crisis intervention supports.
● Experience working from ant-racism, and anti-Black racism lens is required.
● Must hold a valid First Aid Certificate to support emergency situations that may arise within the program.
● A clear, mandatory vulnerable sector check is required and must bepresented within weeks of employment.
● Demonstrated ability to work independently and as a team in a diverse, dynamic, and fast-paced work environment.
● Second language is considered an asset (French, Hindi, Farsi, Arabic, Pashto, Yoruba, Swahili, Ukrainian, Chinese etc.)
Skills for Change provides learning and training opportunities for immigrants, refugees and equity seeking groups to access and fully participate in the workplace and wider community to persons with disabilities to newcomers to Canada (including refugees) to Indigenous peoples to members of a visible minority to children or youth to women of all ages including seniors to the LGBTQ2 community.
Skills for Change offers accommodation for applicants with disabilities in each stage of the hiring process. If you are contacted regarding a job opportunity, please advise if you require accommodation. This document is available in alternate format on request.
Candidates must hold a bachelor's degree in social work or counselling psychology and possess at least two years of relevant experience. Registration with a professional body like the CCPA and a clear vulnerable sector check are mandatory.
Market context
In Ontario, behavioral-health roles are typically driven by ongoing need in community, outpatient, and support settings serving people with mental health or substance use challenges. These positions can be competitive because employers often look for experience with diverse populations plus a high school diploma or GED, with a bachelor’s in social work or a related field preferred. Review the AI-summarized requirements and benefits here to save time, then tailor your application to show relevant client-facing experience and readiness to work with varied needs.