Annual Renewal FAQs
Oversight/regulatory bodies require all registrants to renew their registration each year to maintain their certificates of registration. By renewing your PSW registration with HSCPOA:
- You help ensure that information is accurate and current. This enables HSCPOA to perform our oversight/regulatory functions in support of public protection like maintaining HSCPOA’s online Public Register of PSWs.
- When you renew, you provide HSCPOA with information about your work as a PSW. We analyze this information and share it anonymously with the Ontario Ministry of Health and other system partners who require or are interested in information about Ontario’s HSCPOA registered PSWs.
- You demonstrate your ongoing commitment to provide safe, quality, ethical, and accountable PSW care as outlined in HSCPOA’s Code of Ethics.
Renewing your PSW registration with HSCPOA involves updating information in your registrant profile such as your contact information and employment status.
The renewal form will also ask questions about your personal care provider education, if applicable, and your personal care provider work history, within and outside Ontario, if applicable. These questions are required for HSCPOA’s annual reporting requirements to the Ministry of Health. Information reported by HSCPOA to the Ministry of Health will be sent in anonymous format. Some questions will only be asked at your first annual renewal, other questions may be asked yearly.
If you don’t renew by March 31st each year, your registration with HSCPOA automatically expires. A status of “Inactive” will be displayed on HSCPOA’s Public Register of PSWs, and your registration history on the Public Register will also show your registration has expired.
While PSW registration with HSCPOA remains voluntary, many employers have made it mandatory for their PSW employees to be registered with HSCPOA. Don’t put your current or future PSW employment opportunities at risk, renew early!
HSCPOA will consider granting extensions for PSW registrants to complete their annual renewal on a case-by-case basis according to the Annual Renewal Extension Request Policy. To make a renewal extension request, please complete HSCPOA’s Annual Renewal Extension Request Form.
Login to your HSCPOA PSW registrant profile, using your email address and password you set up when you originally applied for registration with HSCPOA. If you have forgotten your password or are not sure you remember it, please reset it.
Once you are logged in to your PSW registrant profile, click the ‘Renew’ button under the section Complete My Renewal for 2026/2027. You will then be guided through HSCPOA’s annual renewal process. There are two steps to annual renewal:
Step 1: Profile Update
Step 2: Renewal
You must complete both steps to complete your annual renewal with HSCPOA.
If you have forgotten your password or are not sure you remember it, please reset it.
To reset your password:
- On HSCPOA’s PSW registrant login page, click on ‘Forgot your password?’
- You will be sent an email to the address we have on file for you with a link that will enable you to reset your password.
Make sure the email address we have on file is current and accessible, or you will not be able to change your password. If you encounter any issues logging in, try clearing your Cookies and Cache in your internet browser. An internet search can show you how to do this. If you have trouble resetting your password, email registation@hscpoa.com for assistance.
HSCPOA’s annual renewal is due on March 31st each year. The HSCPOA annual renewal portal will open on February 1st annually. Certificates of Registration will automatically expire on April 1st unless you renew your registration by the March 31st deadline date. If your HSCPOA PSW registration expires, HSCPOA will notify you and you must apply for reinstatement.
There is currently no fee to renew your PSW registration with HSCPOA. If a decision is made by the government of Ontario to charge fees, this will be decided according to the HSCPOA Act, 2021, which requires the Minister of Health’s approval on the process and criteria for setting fees. Once this fee-setting process is established, it will be available on HSCPOA’s website.
The Memorandum of Understanding between HSCPOA and the Minister of Health requires both parties to determine if any fees would place an unreasonable burden on PSWs or cause disruptions to the PSW workforce. This will include consulting with PSWs and other system partners.
There is currently no requirement to submit continuing education or learning activities that you have completed with your HSCPOA annual renewal. This may change in the future once HSCPOA’s Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Regulation is approved by the Ministry of Health, and HSCPOA’s CQI Program is developed. System partners, including HSCPOA PSW registrants, will be consulted in the development of HSCPOA’s CQI Program.
If you have any questions about how to answer a question in on the annual renewal form, you should consult the Annual Renewal Guide for HSCPOA Registered PSWs in Ontario. If your question is still not answered, please contact HSCPOA at: registration@hscpoa.com
All PSWs registered with HSCPOA are required to answer questions on the annual renewal form for the Ministry of Health’s Health Professions Database. The Ministry of Health provides the government with a snapshot of Ontario’s regulated healthcare workforce to inform health human resources planning.
Some questions required for the Health Professions Database are only asked at your first annual renewal with HSCPOA. Other questions may be asked each year. All data that is reported is done in an anonymous format.
HSCPOA and the Ontario Ministry of Health rely on PSW registrants to answer the questions in the annual renewal form truthfully and accurately. For this reason, HSCPOA includes ‘Declarations’ where PSW registrants verify that the answers they have provided are accurate. Your renewal responses must accurately reflect your situation on the day that you complete your annual renewal and answer the declaration questions, even if you expect your status to change soon. You can always update your information in your PSW registrant profile if anything changes after renewal.
If you have any questions about how to respond to a declaration question on HSCPOA’s annual renewal form, consult the Annual Renewal Guide for HSCPOA Registered PSWs in Ontario or email registration@hscpoa.com
No, PSWs registered with HSCPOA do not need to submit a new criminal record check each time they renew their registration. The declaration questions on the annual renewal form ask HSCPOA PSW registrants to verify you have not been charged with any offences, charges, bail conditions, or findings of misconduct. Your annual renewal responses must be true and accurately reflect your situation on the day that you complete your annual renewal. Honesty and integrity are requirements in HSCPOA’s Code of Ethics, which all registered PSWs with HSCPOA are held accountable to.
If you wish to resign your PSW registration with HSCPOA, login to your Registrant Dashboard and choose ‘Resign Registration’ and follow the instructions.
