support worker

travailleur social

intervenant des services à la jeunesse

behavior technician

family support worker

Capital Family Services

I worked for this company for about 4-5 years and within this time, they proved time and time again that they do not care about their employees. I've heard management make fun of staff's mental health, stating that they didn't have time to care about that. 

They will overwork you and then make you feel horribly for saying no (even on your scheduled time off). They do not respect boundaries and you will be told, "this comes with the job," as though you are required to hand over your entire life to them and then be treated as though you are not doing enough. 

They will talk badly about you, they will make your mental health go downhill, you will experience burn out, you will not receive any healthy communication or support from anyone (except some of the supervisors in the office), they will make you go to work sick (they don't care if you are throwing up or in the hospital) - I could honestly go on for hours. 

After leaving this company, I know several people who have needed therapy to get over their work trauma. This company promotes mental health awareness, but will watch you suffer with mental health and basically laugh in your face. 

Please save yourself the energy and stay away from this place. 

They will hire just about anyone and everyone as long as they're legal to work in Canada. You will be put in situations with untrained staff, making it dangerous for everyone including the client. Management doesn't care about you or your workload. Company is geared to make money for the higher-ups, asking for a slight raise is like pulling teeth (literally talking $14/hour to $15.50/hour), and they take $0.20 of every $0.50 you bill for YOUR wear and tear on your vehicle (when KM's are funded through SD but they don't tell you that, however you can look up that SD pays $0.50+ for KM's but you only get $0.30 per KM, therefor they bank off your expense). Your phone will always be getting text and calls asking to work even if you've worked 40+ hours or have it off. Turnover rate with staff is very high and that doesn't seem to concern anyone of importance. 

With that being said, it is a great stepping stone if you're looking to get good work experience to build a career in this field or further your schooling if you're willing to tough out the bad parts. There is also some good people who work here which make it tolerable when on shift with them. Everyone has had difference experiences based off their rolls,  this was just mine. 

The supervisors are mostly great (except for one) and actually care. The 4 co-founders are also great. But the individual managers make the office unbearable. There’s never enough car seats, you’re expected to do so much for such minimal pay. They don’t even pay you the provincial standard for kilometres. You get 10cents/km and they only pay you for the time you have a child in your car. So if you have to travel from the office to an hour away, that gas money is all on you. They also frequently speak poorly of clients (where other clients can hear) and speak poorly of social workers. The only good thing that they will do is work around your school and other job schedules. But they will work you dry and then still try to get more from you. Boundaries are not a thing. I’ve been contacted at 3am when not on call to take a shift the next morning. You are shamed if you take a sick day, the manager just wants to gossip and be there for anyone who will agree with her on every aspect of life. The CIS reports are also often outdated. 

The work itself is very meaningful and the clients are great, but the job can be overwhelming because of how things are handled behind the scenes. The hours are often inconsistent, and scheduling can feel disorganized, which makes it hard to plan your life outside of work.

Upper management provides very little support. Staff are frequently told to “be patient” or to wait for things to improve, but nothing changes. When issues are brought forward, they are acknowledged but not actually addressed, leaving frontline employees to figure things out on their own.

Another major problem is that supervisor and manager roles are often filled by people who aren’t properly trained. This leads to confusion, miscommunication, and added pressure on regular staff who end up doing more than their job description requires just to keep things running smoothly.

Overall, the job is rewarding, but the lack of structure, inconsistent hours, and minimal support from leadership make the work environment stressful. With better training, stronger leadership, and real support for staff, this could be a much better workplace

I started with this company 5 years ago, as a Front-Line Community Support Worker. I was promoted to Team Lead, then a Case Manager, and now I sit on the Senior Leadership Team as a Regional Operations Manager.

This company has provided me with meaningful and fulfilling work helping people. The company culture is welcome and receptive to new ideas, and provided me with the stability to provide myself and my family with a good quality of life.

The work itself can be challenging, and isn't for everyone. Some of the clients that we work with directly can be verbally or physically aggressive. But this company prioritizes safety for it's clients and staff, and works hard to use trauma-informed methods and figuring out where these behaviors are coming from, and how can we reduce them in a way that respects the clients dignity.

This field is a tough field to be in and Capital has supported me through the every up and down. My manager spent time to help me learn and grow and it was very rewarding. This field isn't for someone who is emotionally weak because the clients can be difficult, but if you talk to your manager they will give you the right advice or modification to create a good work/life balance. A lot of people are negative and forget to mention all of the great things this company does for their workers (and the community) that no one even is aware of. I worked with a very tough client and had the opportunity to learn for strategies and techniques to make my time with the client easier. People have to do intrinsic work themselves if they want to be in the helping field, but Capital helps with that too which is amazing (I've been with 3 other agencies in the city that are similar and haven't been supported as well as I have been with Capital, so TRUST me).

   They will tell you what ever you want to hear and put you in any position they feel like. You are not human and your overall needs as a human and not acknowledged what so ever. 
   Which brings me to the fact of the clients are amazing but the company ruins the whole goal orientation to why you choose this career in the first place. 
   This governments system is a never ending money cycle; and our future broken generations and stuck!!! & Who profits from it all?? Them!  Exactly! 
   Unless you have no heart and just want money; this is the job for you. Makes me feel extremely dirty and depressed so I had to change careers. 
   Oh and they will hire ANYONE! Schooling truly means nothing to this company. Which gives you a good example as to how some staff physically can not help clients because they are not training, or have any schooling on the behavioural or any kind of educational based expertise you NEED to be SUCCESSFUL with a company in this nature.


What is the best part of working at the company?
I love the Specialized Community Service care team I am a part of and the amazing work and real results for our kiddos are remarkable. I love this company! 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Not a lot honestly. Perhaps when people arrive late for work which is not the norm. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Enthusiastic, creative problem-solving, compassionate, and very much client-centered. Our supervisor, the case manager, set a great tone from the beginning! 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I work night shifts. I will often read a story to one of our residents. Very rarely do my co-workers and I have to deal with "escalations" as the residents have improved so much since we all started with this new house and residents in April. We clean, count meds, do laundry, take out trash, and are available to our kiddos on less than a moment's notice.

This is a difficult field of work. 

You are working with individuals with trauma past experiences. You are faced with behaviours that are sometimes dangerous. And sometimes, we can't help everyone. Those days can be very hard. But some people continue to persist through the hardships of this job because of the connections they make with others and for the client that do benefit from our work. 

This field will change you. 

What you will consider an appropriate conversation with friends outside the field may horrify your friends. You will get a weird nickname. And at times, you will demonstrate symptoms of PTSD stemming from the work environment. 

No other life

For me, there is no other life. If I only help 1 kid, that is 1 more than before. I have have helped more than 1 kid, it was just an expression. I get for others it won't be and I thank you for your contribution. 



Management does not appear to value employees, only making sure jobs get done. You get overworked and are expected to be able to answer your phone at all times, even when you’re not scheduled to work. Your work/life balance suffers greatly due to this. Burnout is something that happens to employees far too often. The pay received at this job does not come close to compensating what you have to deal with. There is a lot of driving involved with this job and employees are expected to use their own personal vehicle, which again, is not compensated for nearly enough. There are no paid sick days, so if you call in sick, you’re not going to get paid for that day. You learn a lot on your own as you go as the training they provide does not fully prepare you for the job you’ll be doing. I felt very under valued as an employee. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Support worker 16 salaries reported	$21.68 per hour
Travailleur social 63 salaries reported	$17.68 per hour
Intervenant des services à la jeunesse 30 salaries reported	$18.57 per hour
Behavior technician 10 salaries reported	$25.24 per hour
Family support worker 8 salaries reported	$21.48 per hour

Working at Capital Family Services: company overview and reviews

Capital Family Services

Capital Family Services ratings

Popular jobs at Capital Family Services

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected