About Social Service Work

Social service workers administer and implement a variety of social assistance programs and community services, and assist clients to deal with personal and social problems. They maintain professional helping relationships which adhere to legal and ethical standards and assess the needs and resources of individuals, families, groups, and communities and assist them to achieve their goals and meet their needs.  Social service workers also analyze current social policy; relevant legislation; and political, cultural, and/or economic systems in order to develop and implement effective plans of action.1

Social service workers work in a variety of settings, including federal, provincial and municipal governments; hospitals; health and social services agencies and associations; institutional health and social services firms.2

According to the College's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, the scope of practice of the profession of social service work means the assessment, treatment and evaluation of individual, interpersonal and societal problems through the use of social service work knowledge, skills, interventions and strategies, to assist individuals, dyads, families, groups, organizations and communities to achieve optimum social functioning and includes, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the following:

(i) The provision of assessment, treatment and evaluation services within a relationship between a social service worker and a client;

(ii) The development, promotion, management, administration, delivery and evaluation of human service programs, including that done in collaboration with other professionals;

(iii) The provision of professional supervision to a social service worker, social service work student or other supervisee;

(iv) The provision of consultation services to other social service workers or professionals in relation to the activities described in paragraph (i) above;

(v) The development, promotion, implementation and evaluation of social policies aimed at improving social conditions and equality;

(vi) The conduct of research or provision of education regarding the practice of social service work, as defined in paragraphs (i) to (v) above and (vii) below; and

(vii) Any other activities recognized by the College.

In Ontario, in order to use the title Social Service Worker or Registered Social Service Worker or to hold out expressly or by implication that you are a social service worker, you must be registered with the College.  Generally, graduates who have obtained a two-year college diploma in social service work from a College of Applied Arts and Technology qualify for registration with the College.

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1  Taken from the approved program standard for four-semester Social Service Worker Programs approved by the Ministry of Education and Training (MCU code 50721) for delivery by Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology.

2  Taken from the Ontario Job Futures publication, a joint effort of the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada, which provides information on the current trends and future outlook for 163 occupations common to Ontario.