What Employers Should Know About Our New Public Awareness Campaign

Are you dealing with a social worker or a social service worker? Make sure their name is on the register

On March 1, 2019, the College launched our first-ever, online public awareness campaign. “What’s in a name?” promotes awareness of the College and the Online Register of social workers and social service workers in Ontario. It also reinforces the College’s ongoing mandate to protect the public interest through the campaign’s full tagline, “What’s in a name? Protection for you.”

As an employer, you and your employees may have already received inquiries from the public, as to whether a member of your staff is registered with the College. The public awareness campaign positions the Online Register as an important form of protection that gives the public peace of mind when engaging a social worker or social service worker.

The campaign motivates the public to check the Register to confirm that the practitioner that they are dealing with — someone that they understand to be a social worker or social service worker — is in fact a registered member of the College.

Many members of the public did not know that the titles “social worker,” “registered social worker,” “social service worker,” or “registered social service worker” are protected titles in Ontario — until now. The public awareness campaign promotes awareness with key stakeholders about the role of the College, our regulatory mandate and the critical importance of title protection.

How can you provide feedback?

We want to hear your feedback and opinions about our online campaign. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and share the news with your friends, family and colleagues. We also encourage you to provide your feedback by email through communications@ocswssw.org.