Peer Support Worker

Job Posting: Peer Support Worker

Employment Type: Full-Time, Permanent

Salary: As per salary grid – Program Facilitator – Currently starting at $27.23 per hour

Hours of Work: 40 Hours per week, with evenings and weekends as required

Application Deadline: December 1, 2025

Position Overview

The Peer Support Worker is a vital member of the Youth Wellness Team, providing peer-based emotional and practical support to youth ages 12–25 accessing the North Hastings Youth Wellness Hub. Peer Support involves leveraging lived/living experience of mental health and/or substance use to foster authentic, equal, and empathetic relationships. In this role, the Peer Support Worker supports youth in identifying their goals, navigating services, building coping and life skills, and increasing connection to community and wellness resources.

Working as part of a multidisciplinary team, the Peer Support worker contributes to a youth-friendly, non-judgmental, and culturally responsive environment. Responsibilities include one-on-one mentorship, drop-in engagement, group facilitation, outreach, and participating in integrated care planning.

Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) operates as a Learning Health System, meaning service delivery is informed by data, evidence, and lived experience. This requires the Peer Support Worker to engage in ongoing evaluation, measurement-based care, quality improvement, and participation in provincial Communities of Practice.

Key Responsibilities

• Create a welcoming, inclusive, and youth-friendly Hub environment.
• Engage with youth individually and in group settings using peer support principles.
• Utilize lived/living experience to provide mentorship, encouragement, and system navigation support.
• Facilitate social, skill-building, recreational, and wellness activities within the Hub and in the community.
• Support youth in completing standardized measures to improve outcomes.
• Assist with planning, co-facilitation, and outreach for drop-in programs and skill-based activities.
• Provide mentorship in person, virtually, and in community settings as needed.
• Participate in integrated care planning, team meetings, case discussions, and outreach activities.
• Maintain accurate documentation, including case notes, data entry, and electronic records.
• Participate in community events, network meetings, and represent the Hub in outreach efforts.
• Attend the YWHO Provincial Community of Practice for Peer Support Workers.
• Work from a harm-reduction, culturally safe, and strengths-based framework.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Lived/living experience with mental health and/or substance use challenges is required.
• Experience accessing mental health/substance use services and navigating those systems.
• Strong self-awareness, self-care practices, and ability to maintain professional boundaries
• Demonstrated ability to relate to youth from a peer perspective and work in an interdisciplinary team.
• Knowledge of community resources, youth mental health pathways, and service navigation.
• Experience with safe and meaningful youth participation and openness to diverse experiences.
• Strong communication, interpersonal, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Experience facilitating groups, co-creating programs, or engaging diverse youth is an asset.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, email, and willingness to learn new systems.
• Knowledge of health equity approaches including anti-oppressive practice, 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion, cultural safety, trauma-informed care, accessibility, and harm reduction.
• Participation in peer support training, WRAP, or recovery-oriented programs considered an asset.
• Bilingualism or proficiency in a second language is an asset.
• Clear Vulnerable Sector Criminal Reference Check and CPIN Check required prior to employment.

Working Conditions

Combination of on-site work, community outreach, and travel between NHCS locations.

• Evenings and weekends required.
• Light physical duties (setting up program spaces, moving light supplies).
• May involve standing or walking for extended periods during youth activities or events.

How to Apply

Interested candidates are invited to send their résumé and cover letter, Attention: Jessica Anderson, CEO at by the closing date. We encourage applications from candidates who reflect the diversity of our community, including Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of equity-seeking groups. Accommodation is available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. North Hastings Children's Services reserves the right to limit the notice entitlement upon termination to the minimum standards of the Employment Standards Act.

Job Types: Full-time, Permanent

Pay: $27.23 per hour

Expected hours: 40 per week

Benefits:

• Dental care
• Life insurance
• Paid time off

Work Location: In person