A backlog of Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) background checks has left a social worker from Ontario stranded in Labrador without a job.
Sarah, whose last name CBC Toronto has agreed to withhold as she’s worried speaking out could impact current and future job prospects, moved provinces for a new job that requires a vulnerable sector screening (VSC).
Sarah filed her VSC application mid-August but says she’s heard nothing back from the OPP despite attempts to contact the unit that processes the applications.
She was supposed to start her new job on Sep. 5 and predicts she’ll have to go at least three months without any income.
“I left Ontario because I couldn’t afford to live …. I literally was unable to buy groceries,” she told CBC Toronto. “And now I’m sitting here, unemployed, running through my savings.”
Triton Canada, the OPP’s vendor of record for background checks, describes a VSC as a “three-part check for individuals working or volunteering with vulnerable populations,” including a criminal record check, a local police information check and a vulnerable sector query.
Triton only handles intake services for applications and sends them to the OPP for processing. The company’s webpage for OPP background checks shows the unit is currently reviewing applications submitted before July 22.
A high volume of requests is causing longer turnaround times, according to OPP spokesperson Erin Cranton, and processing times can also be delayed by other factors, including how complex the check is. Typically processing takes between 45 and 55 days for complex checks, Cranton said in an emailed statement.
It’s not clear whether Sarah’s case is complex, as the OPP declined to speak about individual cases.
It’s been about 45 days since Sarah submitted her application, and she worries her new employer won’t be able to wait much longer.
“They’re super patient. … They just keep saying to me, ‘just let us know when you get it and we’ll tell you your start date,'” she said. “Any other employer would be like, ‘we’re going to move on to the next person.’ And that’s my fear.”
In its statement, the OPP said it has implemented a plan to reduce the backlog with staffing enhancements.
There are many personal support workers in the province facing similar circumstances, said Miranda Romanowicz, CEO of the Ontario Personal Support Workers Association (OPSWA).
“They can’t work until they get [their VSC],” she said. “A lot of them have a job offer, but then they lose that job offer because they can’t get that check in time.”
This puts unnecessary stress on an already strained health-care system, Romanowicz said.
“We’re looking at staffing shortages, which is already a huge issue in Ontario health care, but we’re also looking at the residents, or the clients, not getting the care that they need,” she said.
“It really is a downward spiral.”
Ontario will need tens of thousands of nurses, PSWs by 2032
This is especially true in Ontario’s northern rural communities, which regularly face PSW staffing shortages, Romanowicz said.
The OPSWA has taken some action on the issue, working directly with Triton to help PSWs secure criminal record and judicial matters checks, which some employers accept in lieu of VSCs because of the backlog.
Sarah doesn’t have that option, which is why she’s now considering applying for a temporary role at her local Walmart. She wants to make enough money to at least move back to Ontario if her new job falls through.
Sarah says she’s also attempted to contact Ontario’s Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, whose ministry oversees the OPP. A secretary from his office referred her back to the OPP’s online police record checks webpage.
In a statement, Oleksandr Shvets with the Solicitor General’s office told CBC Toronto that the ministry is working on “solutions to improve processing timelines for [VSCs] with a focus on reducing backlogs.”
The Toronto Police Service is also currently reporting a backlog on background checks. It’s currently processing criminal record checks received before July 31, Criminal Record & Judicial Matters Checks received before July 24, and VSCs received before Aug. 7.
