youth worker

family support counselor

relief worker

merchandise flow team member

family support specialist

Our Place Peel

A typical day would be babysitting youth that run the place because there are no rules or structure in place. This shelter is a revolving door for the same youth that continuously return and are never housed. Case management is a joke and virtually non-existent. Youth enter this shelter and overtime collect charges and addictions because of the lack of rules, structure, and accountability. I learned that I need to work for an organization where I'm actually helping the youth and where management is supportive. The entire management team from youth supervisors, the manager of the shelter, to the CEO aren't supportive. There's no transparency, lack of communication, lack of accountability, and there's no consistency. The only good thing I can say about this organization are the incredible staff that work there. Unfortunately, the turnover is so high because the place is managed so poorly that they are losing amazing staff. The burn out is high as there are constant crisis's and overdoses, there is no work-life balance. If someone doesn't show up for their shift and coverage isn't found you'll be forced to work a 16hr+ shift when that should be managements responsibility. They don't even have on-call support 24.7. Staff fear making important decisions such as youth discharges based on health and safety due to how management will react/fear of getting into trouble. If the Region of Peel truly knew how this place was run, it would be shut down. 


This is probably the most disturbing shelter I’ve ever worked in. The turn over is very high, due to how the shelter is run, and because of how unsupportive management is! The youth take advantage of how lenient the shelter is with them. The youth can come and go as they please, they do not abide by “expectations/rules”, curfew is a joke, they do not have to attend programming, become employed, or go to school. Most of these youth sit around all day consuming substances, and their mental health deteriorates the longer that they are there. The youth are there for months on end, without a legit care plan!!! The staff are very supportive of one another, and with the youth, who really want support. There’s no real Case Management, harm reduction is a joke, and there’s no realistic approach with it. Working here was very heart breaking, especially with the marginalized youth. If you were a racialize staff, you definitely had to advocate for them, because they were treated differently. This shelter needs a lot of work and training.  I found peace after I left from working here. I hope the Region really steps in, and possibly shuts this place down!

Working at Our Place Peel is a horrendous and stressful experience. That's why employees don't last more than two months.
Management is not trained, they don't have a clue as to what they are doing. Some of the employees are not qualified and they got hired because of who they know. Working with youth was an exiting and rewarding experience for me but the workplace environment was detrimental to my health. HR department is horrible, not supportive at all. Employees are not supported in any way. There is no standard training provided to anyone. If you make a mistake you are penalized . If you try to speak up you will be fired. Managers and employees don't follow the health and safety code. The pay is very low and they over work you with no appreciation. The  senior managers don't care and don't even know what they are doing themselves. They don't care about supporting the youth, all they care about is submitting fabricated reports to the funders.  The only enjoyable part about working here was working with my co workers who were kind and supportive, but everyone resigned very quickly.

This is the worst organization I have ever worked for. 

Management treats you like your disposable and micromanage you. The staff turnover is embarrassing. It is stressful constantly training new staff and dealing with crisis situations. 

Supervisors and assistant managers hide in the office and gossip. They do not support staff when there are crisis situations. They won't even pick up the phone if it's ringing and you're busy. If you try to sit for a moment, they give you a task.  

Management doesn't support staff and staff have to complete duties outside of their role. If you like picking up garbage after youth, this is the place for you. 

Youth aren't held accountable and can do whatever they want. They don't go to school or work. Instead they sleep in until 4pm and party. 

This is a trap house and not a shelter. There is zero rules or structure. Safety for staff is not existent. 

I would stay away, this place doesn't follow Employment Standards! 

Poorly managed. If you have any desires to further your career in community services, do not work here. If you do, get the experience and run out of here. As a new employee, I did not receive orientation or proper training. I arrived on my first day and was running around tending to youth, who needed help, but I didn't have the right answers or training. I met my supervisor/manager days after my first initial start date, and I do not feel like her energy was welcoming.  The majority of my day consisted of assisting at-risk youth overdosing on site, youth fighting, youth stealing from each other, etc. 

It breaks my heart that there's no programming for these youth, no consistent service set in place for youth to lean on. Marginalized youth who need more than just shelter; I would like to know that company I work for will do more to assist in lowering the socioeconomic barriers in which a lot of these youth face on a daily basis. 





The youth aren’t required to do much, and can stay for however long that they would like!  This place sets youth up to fail, and requires them to take no accountability for anything that they do!   To be honest, the youth aren’t the real issue, management is!  This place does a great job, silencing it’s workers, minimizing various situations, that could cause harm to someone emotionally/mentally/physically, and will point the finger back onto staff, as to why something is wrong.  They do not value their team, nor act as though they care about the team or the youth.  The CEO doesn’t require the management team to take any accountability for anything.  This shelter is infamous for the slogan “Back To Business As Usual.”   If you’re okay with being underpaid, mistreated, not valued, and are to behave as a sheep, this is the place for you!   If you want to really support youth, create change, and work in a non-toxic environment, and maintain your own mental health, keep scrolling onto the next job post!

Great staff who are always willing to help.  The youth are open to working with staff because the team is so supportive and encouraging.  

Not a punitive environment at all and this approach supports an honest relationship with youth.  Very progressive with respect to considering the influence of mental health psychopathology in the absence of medical intervention.  

This agency really wants to meet youth "where they are at" and because of this; constantly full.

Awesome transitional program.  This is a 6 bed program and the youth are working toward independence and really do make great gains.  They have multiple supports and the positive shifts are obvious!

Probably one of the worst places to work. My coworkers are great and I feel a sense of belonging but there is a lot of gossip that goes around about the employees and the youth there.  Management especially loves to gossip and have clear favourites. They don't know how to run a business and will downplay your issues. 

This place is honestly so bad that they are constantly hiring for a reason. One comment said "They can’t even retain their managers and HR staff" which is true. They went through more than 5 employees in one year for the same department.

Good luck to anyone coming here, seriously. 

This organization is very toxic, disorganized and chaotic. They have a high turn over rate and can’t retain employees. They can’t even retain their managers and HR staff. That’s how bad this organization is. 
You work with youth to help stabilize them and meet their goals. The clients are great to work with but communication from management is very poor. No clear direction, they say one thing and do the opposite. Management are not supportive, they stand around and gossip with other staff. It’s embarrassing, the pay is very low and they make mistakes on your pay every payroll period. 

The worst part of the job is the pay - however what they lack in pay they make up in actual hands on experience. If you do not have the ability to think on your feet and require a handbook with step by step instructions this job/field is not for you.

You will be pushed to be hands on and take charge, what many people complain about is not having guidance is true however this is where the real beauty lies. As any one can mold the role their given to how they see fit. 

Please don’t count this place out it’s a great opportunity if you’re fresh out of school. Give it your all, and it will be recognized.



Top Job Titles	Average salary
Youth worker 1 salary reported	$46,984 per year
Family support counselor 5 salaries reported	$49,504 per year
Relief worker 5 salaries reported	$19.27 per hour
Merchandise flow team member 5 salaries reported	$49,504 per year
Family support specialist 3 salaries reported	$49,504 per year

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