Client Support Worker (CSW) – Internal/External Posting

Relief Positions – no guaranteed hours

Street Health is a community-based agency providing innovative physical and mental health programs and advocacy to homeless and insecurely housed individuals in downtown Toronto for over 30 years.  Street Health, a not-for-profit organization located within the downtown-east neighborhood of Toronto, works to improve the health and wellbeing of people who are homeless and under-housed by addressing the social determinants of health. Our organization provides services in the areas of innovative nursing, mental health, harm reduction, Overdose prevention, Safer Supply, outreach, identification replacement programs, and through advocacy, research and education.

Street Health is creating a pool of Client Support Relief Workers who will support the organization in the front reception area of Street Health’s location at 338 Dundas Street East. As a Relief position, these requests for coverage will often be filled on short notice and on a casual basis. As a relief role, hours cannot be guaranteed for this position.

The Client Support Worker is the first point of contact responsible for engaging with all clients who enter the building. This position is responsible to engage, diffuse, deescalate, intervene, redirect, support, advocate, navigate and refer individuals. This position is also responsible for providing support to all the other staff teams by intervening in crisis situations. This position will be the first point of contact to collect intake information for referrals to other programs as required and ensure the information is conveyed to appropriate services.

Responsibilities of the position include, but may not be limited to:

•       Acts as the first point of contact within Street Health; works with clients to assess needs and provides brief case management, referrals, information, advocacy, resources, supplies, etc.

•       Establishes rapport with clients to build trust and promote effective use of services.

•       Answers phones and distributes supplies to clients as needed.

•       Intervenes, deescalates and manages crisis’ that may occur on site with clients while maintaining staff and client safety.

•       Liaises, supports and works closely with all staff teams; remains aware of any potential/forthcoming challenging situations.

•       Connects and refers clients to services both within Street Health as well as programs and services in the community.

•       Distributes personal hygiene and harm reduction supplies while ensuring used equipment is disposed of in a safe way.

•       Maintains a welcoming and friendly presence for all visitors.

•       Advocates for clients and connects them to community resources and basic needs including housing/shelter, health care, income support, ID, nursing, completion of forms, etc.; provides one on one support.

•       Monitors activity outside the building to ensure client and staff safety.

•       Collects relevant intake information from clients regarding access to Mental Health Case Management and other onsite services; relays information to Manager and or staff.

Admin Duties:

•       Documents and maintains stats related to client activities, incidents, referrals, etc.

•       Manages organizational administrative tasks such as checking emails, completing time sheets.

•       Meets with program manager on a monthly basis at minimum.

•       Participates in monthly supervision sessions, other organizational activities and required training.

•       Ensures that information for clients is up to date, displayed appropriately and accessible for clients.

•       Ensures client information is updated using EMR.

•       All other duties as may be assigned within the scope of this position.

Qualifications & Requirements: 

•       Degree/diploma in health, social work or related field, or equivalent job experience.

•       Minimum 4 years’ experience working in harm reduction services and/or the community mental health and substance use sector with a harm reduction approach particularly with individuals who are homeless, and/or experiencing complex health and social issues.   

•       Strong crisis intervention skills and training.

•       Broad knowledge of dual diagnosis & concurrent disorders as well as alternative models and approaches to mental health treatment including experience providing trauma informed care.

•       Knowledge of the criminal justice system, Ontario Works, and the Ontario Disability Support Program, housing resources and other local community supports.

•       Personal experience with the mental health system and/or lived experience is considered an asset.

•       Demonstrated understanding of harm reduction & issues affecting homeless people.

•       Familiarity with overdose prevention and response.

•       Experience working with persons of diverse ethnic, cultural, racial backgrounds & sexual orientations.

•       Strong oral and written communication skills; strong computer skills and experience using database software.

•       Willingness to be resourceful, patient, open minded, and participate fully within a team setting.

•       Strong multi-tasking skills and capacity to perform job duties independently while maintaining accountability to agency.

•       Valid CPR certification or ability to obtain certification within the first 3 months of employment.

•       Successful completion of a police services Vulnerable Sector Screening Check.

Don’t meet every single qualification? If you are intrigued and excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in this job posting, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be the right candidate we have been searching for to join our team! Research has shown that people of colour, women and members of other equity deserving groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. Street Health is committed to building a diverse and authentic organization and we welcome your application.

Position Type:             Relief, Bargaining Unit

Salary:                         $32.85 per hour

Work Hours:                Relief (casual) shifts, often on short notice
Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Work Location:            338 Dundas Street East, Toronto, ON, M5A 2A1

Reports to:                   Manager, Harm Reduction Programs

Posting Date:               Thursday June 19, 2025

Application Deadline:  Tuesday July 1, 2025

Application Method:    Please submit a cover letter and resume by 5:00 pm on Tuesday July 1, 2025, to .
Please quote CSWRelief_1225 in the subject line of the email.

Street Health is committed to diversity, equity & inclusion and developing a workforce that is reflective of the communities and clients that we work with. We strongly encourage applications from members of equity deserving groups including but not limited to; people with lived and/or living experience, Black people, Indigenous Peoples, racialized communities, LGBTQ2SIA+ people, people with disabilities, and people with marginalized identities.

Street Health is committed to providing accessible employment practices in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). Applicants are asked to make accommodation requests by email to and include the subject term ‘Accessibility’, or via telephone to 416-921-8668 ext. 228. Street Health will make every effort to ensure that reasonable accommodation requests are available throughout the recruitment process.

All candidates offered a position at Street Health must be fully vaccinated according to Street Health’s COVID-19 Vaccination Policy, Nov 2021, and proof of vaccination is required as a condition of employment.

Street Health will comply with its Human Rights obligations and accommodate employees who are legally entitled to accommodation.