community health worker

licensed practical nurse

youth worker

front desk agent

program coordinator

Coast Mental Health

It should be noted that the work performed by this organization is important and it should be given that recognition. 

The main source of operating revenue is from government and is supplemented by donations from the public. The CEO has accomplished many great things for Coast but this sector is changing fast and public funding is limited and is no longer guaranteed in a sector with many non-profit organizations.

The organization tries desperately to fulfill its mandate but fails to do so at many levels due to the limited resources, antiquated systems and under qualified personal especially in some of its back office departments such as Facilities, IT, Accounting and Human Resources.

The day to day work at Coast is highly stressful due to the needs of its clients, lack of resources and disenfranchised employees. This is especially evident with the fatigued front line workers. Some of these issues stem from the tired Program Directors that lack the energy, desire and will to tackle some of the ongoing systemic problems that they continually fail to address.

Only real change can address this and Coast needs to consider shaking things up and bring in individuals with fresh thinking and renewed energy.

The issues at Coast have been made further problematic due to the lack of vision and support from management and the senior executive level. In some cases the safety of its clients and its staff is compromised and left unchecked due to inaction and the lack of will from its senior management team to address these issues in a timely if at all.

It’s a great place to cut your teeth and learn in a real world setting, however it may not be somewhere you would want to stick around to advance your career despite the hype and the marketing you might be given.


Overall, the work environment has become increasingly unhealthy and difficult to work in.
There is a persistent atmosphere of gossip, interpersonal tension, and drama that often resembles a high-school dynamic rather than a professional setting. This behavior affects morale, teamwork, and the ability to focus on client needs.

Some staff struggle to separate their personal issues from their work roles. This leads to inappropriate interactions, misplaced emotional reactions, and at times, mistreatment of coworkers. These patterns contribute significantly to the instability of the workplace culture. Onsite management behavior reinforces these problems rather than addressing them.

There are clear instances of favoritism and blurred boundaries between onsite management and specific staff members. When concerns about these boundary issues are raised, the response from management often feels defensive or even bitter, rather than open, supportive, or solution-focused.

The result is an environment where staff do not feel consistently respected, safe, or supported.
Clearer expectations, consistent leadership behavior, and stronger professional boundaries across all levels would significantly improve the culture. Addressing favoritism, interpersonal drama, and communication barriers would help restore trust and create a more stable, inclusive, and professional workplace.

I don't know where to start. First of all, they don't provide any company orientation when you're first hired. Don't expect any site orientation because you will not receive any! The program manager will not train you - they expect you to read policies and procedures while you're figuring things out on your own. That is my experience when they first opened up a new transitional program in Shaughnessy.  Depending who is your program manager, your experience can vary. Mine is negative. Work can be frustrating when dealing with entitled and abusive clients. And don't expect your program manager will support you with such clients. Some sites are dangerous and you're expected to inhale 2nd-hand smoke from cigarettes or any drugs. If you're asthmatic or have any lung disease - stay away from Coast! There is no clean air policy in place just like Atira! The pay is low for the amount of trauma we're getting exposed to including pay is not enough after all of the deductions. Benefits are poor. Most of the coworkers are there for the pay and not for the clients. Quiet quitting is an acceptable culture with management and coworkers.

If you ever have the unfortunate situation of dealing with a traumatic event, do not expect any support from Coast or management, in fact as a front line worker you may even be blamed for said event despite doing everything correctly. Gaslighting has been mentioned and I would agree that management do this as a form of fear mongering . 

You are expected to only use initials in charting and not mention any additional names, I have since discovered this is wrong and it’s probably to make it more difficult if notes are subpoenaed to put an liability onto coast. 

Some of the Senior Managers are only an LPN designation and not an RN or RPN so completely unqualified to be overseeing programs with a vulnerable population with active psychosis and sometimes substance.  use. 

Writing my experience. It is my experience with Coast Mental Health is not supportive of their frontline workers. There is a CMH vs frontline staff culture. Management doesn't support their frontline staff. Corporate staff (HR, Accounting, Safety department, program managers, executive team, etc.) are condescending towards frontline staff. Staff retention is a problem. For some unknown reason, HR are not participating in hiring fairs. If the RCMP can participate in hiring fairs as a way to attract potential future officers, why can't HR do the same to hire more staff? There are multiple safety issues and hazards which CMH in my own opinion refuses to remedy. Overall, I do not recommend CMH as an employer despite all of the shiny awards both CMH and HR receives.

-Non-discriminatory.
-Great flexibility especially with the site I worked at. 
-Great work- life balance as I could take time off whenever I needed.
-Opportunity for growth/enhancement.
-Ongoing learning opportunities through monthly in-service sessions.

-Hardest part of the job is paperwork. Lots of repeat paperwork which takes a way a lot of interaction time between staff and clients. 

-Need more staff to reduce work load.

Coast does offer plenty of front line work experience and can be a jumping off pad for newbies to the field. However, I can't say I can recommend one doing so with so many better organizations and opportunities out there. High turnover of Staff due to toxic workplaces and failure of upper management to make the workplace safe and enjoyable to work in. Any chance for promotion for current employees are non existent as the hiring of externals for supervisory roles is the focus. New leadership seems focused on turning the organization into a corporate model as opposed to a more employee and client centred non-profit model. The exodus to leave Coast seems to back this up and good employees leave for organizations they feel will value them more.

I worked for over 8 years for Coast so it pains me to see how far it has fallen from a "go to" organization to work for to one I would not recommend. Change in CEO and upper management has seen a dramatic shift in work environment, job satisfaction and any hope of further advancement within the organization. 
New management has seemingly adopted a tear it down to the foundation approach and rebuild with it's own people in place. This has been accomplished in a ruthless manner making it impossible for long term dedicated employees to stay in their positions given higher workloads and limited support. Many good, long term employees(front line and management) have left the organization for other organizations.

I consider CMH to be a good employer, with a healthy and enjoyable work culture, work/life balance and good people, and daytime shifts were mostly fairly relaxed and enjoyable. For overnight shifts, maybe it’s dependent on the location you work but I know I only ever worked alone overnights in residences with a large amount of clients and no building security or other staff present between 10pm-6/7am. It felt unsafe at times and would have felt more comfortable particularly as a woman having another person somewhere in the building, even if just security. I’m not sure if this has changed since and if security is now required but this was my experience back then.

Workplace culture, and management vary depending on the site, but generally, most front line workers (Mental Health Worker, Tenant Support Worker etc.) are overworked and are pressured to complete a lot of paperwork because it looks good for funding, but it takes away from time with clients thus reducing the quality of care.
This results in high staff burnout and poor job satisfaction.  This trend continues to get more extreme as Coast continues to grow.  After over 10 yrs with Coast, I would only recommend it as a chance to enter into the field, get 6-12 months experience, and then go elsewhere. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Community health worker 33 salaries reported	$32.60 per hour
Licensed practical nurse 26 salaries reported	$35.25 per hour
Youth worker 17 salaries reported	$32.58 per hour
Front desk agent 9 salaries reported	$24.40 per hour
Program coordinator 4 salaries reported	$35.10 per hour

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