attendant

addiction counselor

licensed practical nurse

program manager

cook

Poundmakers Lodge Treatment Centre

If you're looking for a place where your soul is going to slowly and persistently die inside - this is the place for you! 

The clinical director has some sick belief about mental health being a choice as she directly told clients that they are "living up to their diagnosis and subsequent symptoms." 

Need to take care of your mental health while employed here? Don't bet your bottom dollar on that one. You'll be ostracised and treated like you are the bottom of the totem pole. Even moreso if you are a parent to a young child. 

If you have any belief that you'll ever make a change here, you might as well just give up on this place now. Your desire for improvement will only be seen as a threat by the upper management and as a result, you'll be run out of town. 

Want to be fairly compensated for your work? LOL. 
Good benefits to maintain a good work-life balance? NOPE. 
A reasonable probationary period? Good luck with that, 6 months it is! 
Access to vacation days? Sure, but only if we actually think it's a reasonable request for vacation time. Which is likely a no, because we are always understaffed and expect you to work like a dog for pennies compared to the rest of the industry. 

Are you expecting to be respected as a colleague? Don't. Here, they'll only find things wrong about you and put you down for who you are as a human being. 

Seeking the desire to save lives? They do that, but just as much as take opportunity away from vulnerable people. 

Want to work for an organization that prioritizes it's owm family members recovery over the year long waitlist where people are dying everyday? Yep, you guessed it. 

Need to take time off for sick leave? You'll be let go. 

working at a treatment center can be very rewarding, seeing people pick up the pieces of their lives and helping putting them back. While like any place not all residents can be nice or grateful but majority are.
learning about addictions and the causes makes for a real eye opener and takes away the stigma about why people turn to addictions.
Management=the WORST! the executive director is the most condescending person ive ever met! walks around with a giant ego yet knows nothing about what is going on. He will fire you for looking at him wrong.
People get fired with no fair warning! people will come in for work and just be written off the schedule and management wont even give them the decency to explain why.
EVERYONE and i mean everyone is hired on as casual ! even the ones who work full time hours , thats right technically casual. no pay raises or benefits  then management gets upset if they cant or wont work certain days. or find a better job .  Call in sick and youll get a talking to or better yet they will tell you to take some meds and still come in. or even better they will straight up firing you cause God forbid you catch a cold and cant come in.
Managment treats employees as less then and replaceable if you dont kiss their behind.
as much as working with the residents is rewarding managment takes away any joy!
LEARN TO VALUE YOUR EMPLOYEE!

This position has been a stepping stone in my career. In this position, I’ve been able to learn so much and grow my education in addictions, recovery, my indigenous background, as well as the business aspect of the job. It’s truly a great place to work with opportunities to grow. The manager for my position is absolutely hands down the best I’ve personally had in my entire career. They are professional, understanding, caring, supportive and passionate. 

I could not have asked for a better workplace to be able to learn from and grow my own professional career with. I started with minimal experience as I had just finished schooling and they saw my potential as an employee, which was a great feeling to have. The company is very engaging with their employees and clients and will always try to make sure needs are met. They celebrate small and big wins and are well loved in community. 

Overall, I would suggest working at Poundmakers. It has helped further my career and I was able to learn more than I had ever hoped. If you’re more then willing and able, this is the place for you! 

Getting to know the clients at Poundmakers and attending cultural activities is very rewarding. Unfortunately, these aspects are completely overshadowed by management egos.  PA’s are blamed for everything and completely disrespected. This makes it hard to earn any respect with the clients. Beyond that,  the firing culture is incredibly unethical. Many genuine and hardworking staff are let go for extremely petty (and sometimes no) reasons.  They will also write you off the schedule as soon as its convenient for them. The culture is very hierarchical and one of fear and distrust. The treatment of clients is unethical and unfair with some being able to use and abuse the place and some being kicked out because they looked at someone wrong. It is such a shame Poundmakers is run so poorly because it has so much potential and could help many clients. Management needs to change and some oversight needs to take place. I’ve worked in other social services jobs and this is easily the most messed up place I’ve worked at. 

Management such as ED, CD, HR, and Managers don't care about you. They don't appreciate your hard work. They believe clients over staff and favour the ones related to them. No more room to grow because they offer learning opportunities to ppl they favour. No verbal/written warnings or feedback on how to improve. Very difficult to report any work related issues or work related injury. Either reduce your shifts, wait till you resign, or terminate you. It's a very toxic work environment and A LOT OF turn over rate for all departments. Most people gone either in weeks or months. Rarely do people stay over a year. Not a lot of senior staff. Staff are disposable at any time. People hired have minimal educational or professional experience. A LOT of DRAMA there between staff and clients and upper management. 

The good: Getting all your certifications and sometimes getting a piece of birthday cake.
The bad: Endless amounts of PA staff either coming or going. Bad leadership and communication between staff, team leads and management. Favoritism from management with staff and clients. Old and tattered and useless equipment for clients, chaotic and unorganized craft area, lack of wheelchair accessible areas for guests/clients. Oh, and the worst cup of coffee you will ever taste in your life lives that machine in their kitchen. Clients buy their own instant coffee that's how awful that coffee is there. They are so freaking cheap that they won't even do anything about the coffee there. 
I met a lot of good people working here and had some really good experiences, but it's too bad the management is just concerned with money.

If current management was not there, it'd be an amazing place to work at. But seeing as current management is overseeing everything, it's not the best. They ask you to do super shady stuff in regards to clients to make you look like that bad person when the clients report to the counsellors. Get in the habit of saying no, and writing stuff in a personal journal to cover yourself. When I was there, I did not sign an NDA so I got in the habit of recording some conversations with the Clinical Director. The hours, the work, and the relationships you'll form with staff and clients alike is not that bad. I purposely had my schedule in a way that I would not have to see management but even thats an impossible task. I have nothing bad to say about any of the workers other than management. Once they come out for some air, I'm sure they'll change..... no they won't.

The worst job I’ve had as an adult. Avoid this place at all costs, it will destroy your personal and professional confidence. 
Turn over rate of new Program Attendants is absolutely insane. Most people don’t last beyond a month or two here, the environment is highly punitive- I’ve seen people get dismissed for being in the hospital and missing shifts. 
This place purposely hires people with very limited or no professional backgrounds, so they can exploit their employees rights. 
The job itself is straightforward but the environment is one of the worst I’ve ever encountered, professionally. 
You will be in near-constant fear of unjust retribution, slander, employee lateral violence, being fired or having your hours pulled out from under you. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Getting to work with clients from all over Canada and seeing the walks of life they are from. Giving them skills yo live a substance free life

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
You never know from one day to the next if you are going to have a job or not. If upper management doesn't like your hair you coukd be fired for no reason other then they don't like you

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very toxic, and negative. They favour some staff over others and let them get away with harassment without doing something about it

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Give out meds, monitor staff and stuck in a small detox room where your clients can't even leave even when medically stable

This organization is an absolute nightmare. There are a few good people, but the quality of Program Attendant's is so bad. On top of that, there is no room to grow, you'll be forever stuck as a Program Attendant.. People who were fired were rehired because of how close they were with "upper management" on a personal level. As long as you tell "upper management" how amazing they are, you stay somewhat in their good books. Don't be fooled though, you'll be hired as a casual staff so that they can cut your hours if you mess up without warning or even talking to you. Without a doubt the most toxic workplace I have ever seen, I wouldn't even recommend my nemesis go work here. The bad reviews are there for a reason. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Attendant 5 salaries reported	$21.20 per hour
Addiction counselor 37 salaries reported	$58,486 per year
Licensed practical nurse 27 salaries reported	$23.85 per hour
Program manager 15 salaries reported	$61,967 per year
Cook 15 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour

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