Coast Mental Health·Vancouver, British Columbia
The Social Worker provides trauma-informed care and individual support to clients experiencing homelessness, mental illness, or substance use issues. They are responsible for overseeing recovery-oriented goals and facilitating psychoeducational groups within a supported housing environment.
Status: Permanent, Full-time
Location: Pacific Coast Apartments, Vancouver, BC
Start Date: August 15th, 2026
Monday - Friday 9am to 5pm.
$44.85 to $51.45
Under the direction of the Program Manager, the Social Worker is responsible for the delivery of trauma- informed care for people who may have or have experienced homelessness; severe addictions, mental illness, or concurrent disorders; trauma; family, cultural and community disconnection; involvement with the criminal justice or forensic system; physical health and behavioral issues. The social worker is responsible overseeing recovery oriented goal, group and program planning for a 68 unit supported housing building in Mount Pleasant area of Vancouver. Working with program staff and a peer specialist the social worker will be responsible for conducting psychoeducational groups and providing individual client support utilizing therapeutic modalities such as CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing and trauma recovery.
Knowledge of issues facing persons with a psychiatric disability or substance use issue, particularly as related to meeting client needs of finances, legal/criminal justice involvement, family supports, housing, and advocacy.
Thorough understanding of the Mental Health Act.
Experience in tracking and reporting outcome measures.
Experience in collaborating with community case managers, housing providers, and other agencies to determine the effective utilization of available resources
Experience in therapeutic group development and facilitation skills
Case management experience.
Understanding of recovery principles, including strengths-based case management
Excellent communication skills and the ability to work effectively as part of the team.
Knowledge of CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing and trauma recovery
Knowledge of mental illness, substance use issues, psychosocial rehabilitation principles, and therapeutic modalities.
Coast Mental Health (Coast) is one of the largest mental health non-profit societies in Canada and operates a large array of innovative housing and community-based rehabilitation services for people with a mental illness living in and around Vancouver. Coast operates in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia providing approximately 1000 people with supportive housing and 4000 clients living in the community with a wide variety of programs and services.
Coast fosters a client-driven, recovery-oriented environment that promotes restoring health, personal growth and a return to society for individuals with a mental illness through advocacy and providing direct programs and services. Coast is deeply invested in cultural safety, reconciliation, and anti-racism. Our employees receive training on cultural humility, trauma-informed practice, and inclusive leadership. We strive to reflect the communities we serve and value lived experience alongside professional qualifications.
Why Coast
We recognize safety as a top priority for the organization.
We believe in our people and recognize hard work.
We operate client-centered care under the principles of psychosocial rehabilitation.
We offer a variety of work placement opportunities within the organization.
We strive to be the best that we can be.
We hold Exemplary Standingwith Accreditation Canada.
We have been recognized with numerous awards for our innovative programming.
We care about our employees, and believe in living our values and culture throughout the organization
Some of the Benefits we Offer
100% employer-paid benefits for employees and their families.
Vision Care, Dental Care, Prescription Drugs, Naturopath, Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Group Life, Massage therapy, Physiotherapy, and Unlimited Out-of-Province and Out-of-Country Emergencies.
General sick-leave accruals.
Long-term disability programs. Short-term disability programs available to exempt positions only.
5 days of paid leave for Indigenous Employees for Ceremonial, Cultural, and Spiritual events per year.
8 weeks of paid leave for gender affirming care for medical procedures for transgender and gender diverse employees, cumulative total.
Employee and Family Assistance Program, which includes personal counselling, Life Coaching, Financial Coaching, Legal Referral and Advisory Services, and Health Coaching. In addition, Coast provides a cognitive behavioural therapy program (CBT abilities program) and Headversity for managing a variety of life issues and includes self-paced therapeutic support.
Municipal Pension Plan with guaranteed lifetime monthly pension when you retire. More information can be found at: https://mpp.pensionsbc.ca [https://can01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmpp.pensionsbc.ca%2F&data=05%7C02%7Canita.powar%40coastmentalhealth.com%7C30178a9ad3ec4f9ab8be08dd8cf4c360%7Ce256f9909b0442779823870374b03bed%7C0%7C0%7C638821705090993494%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=mw3Vmckzkro7rWOnhRG6LgDnccRGdwgNDK6l7SdVg7I%3D&reserved=0].
***For any unionized positions, current/internal Coast employees must apply within seven (7) days of the posting date with their internal UKG account (using their Coast email address), in order to be considered as an internal applicant. Current/internal Coast employees who apply to a unionized position using an external account (or email), or after the seven (7) day deadline will be considered an external candidate. In this case, seniority will not be considered.***
Coast Mental Health is committed to creating a culture of diversity and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or disability.
Candidates must hold a Bachelor's degree in Social Work and be registered with the BC College of Social Workers. A minimum of three years of experience in a mental health or addictions setting is required, along with valid First Aid and WHMIS certifications.
Market context
In British Columbia, Social Worker roles are commonly tied to health, mental health, child and family, palliative, and rehabilitation services, so demand often reflects ongoing community and care-system needs. These positions are competitive because employers usually look for full BC College registration, a BSW, and recent related experience, with post-degree specialization often preferred. Review the AI-summarized requirements and benefits on this page to save research time, then confirm your registration status and match your experience to the service area before applying.