National Occupational Classification (NOC): 42201
Fast Facts
- Average Pay: N/A
- Future Growth: N/A
- Skill Level: N/A
- Employment Size: N/A
- Unemployment: N/A
- Full-time Share: N/A
Sample Job Titles
- Aboriginal outreach worker
- Addictions worker
- Child and youth worker
- Community development worker
- Community service worker
- Crisis intervention worker
- Developmental service worker
- Group home worker
- Mental health worker
- Rehabilitation worker - social services
- Social services worker
- Veteran services officer
What do social and community service workers do?
Social and community 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 are employed by social service and government agencies, mental health agencies, group homes, shelters, substance abuse centres, school boards, correctional facilities and other establishments.
Social and community service workers perform some or all of the following duties:
- Review client background information, interview clients to obtain case history and prepare intake reports
- Assess clients’ relevant skill strengths and needs
- Assist clients to sort out options and develop plans of action while providing necessary support and assistance
- Assess and investigate eligibility for social benefits
- Refer clients to other social services or assist clients in locating and utilizing community resources including legal, medical and financial assistance, housing, employment, transportation, day care and other services
- Counsel clients living in group homes and halfway houses, supervise their activities and assist in pre-release and release planning
- Participate in the selection and admission of clients to appropriate programs
- Implement life skills workshops, substance abuse treatment programs, behaviour management programs, youth services programs and other community and social service programs under the supervision of social services or health care professionals
- Meet with clients to assess their progress, give support and discuss any difficulties or problems
- Assist in evaluating the effectiveness of treatment programs by tracking clients’ behavioural changes and responses to interventions
- Advise and aid recipients of social assistance and pensions
- Provide crisis intervention and emergency shelter services
- Implement and organize the delivery of specific services within the community
- Maintain contact with other social service agencies and health care providers involved with clients to provide information and obtain feedback on clients’ overall progress
- Mobilize and coordinate volunteer resources and activities for a range of organizations such as human service agencies, health care facilities, arts and sports centres, etc.
- May maintain program statistics for purposes of evaluation and research
- May supervise social service support workers and volunteers.
Source: National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021, Employment and Social Development Canada
Social and community service workers work in many subsectors (NAICS) in Newfoundland and Labrador, including:
- 624 Social assistance
- 621 Nursing and residential care facilities
- 912 Ambulatory health care services
- 912 Provincial and territorial public administration
- 813 Religious, grant-making, civic, and professional and similar organizations
- 622 Hospitals
- 911 Federal government public administration
Source: Census 2021, Statistics Canada
Short and Long Term Occupational Projections
Short Term Projections for 2023-2025
The employment outlook will be moderate for social and community service workers in Newfoundland and Labrador (rating of 3 out of 5) for the 2023-2025 period.
Source: Job Bank, Government of Canada
Long Term Projections for 2023-2032
Social and community service workers belong to the broader occupational group 42201, 42204 (Social, community service and other religious occupations). This group is forecast to be balanced (rating of 1.8 out of 4) over the next several years, meaning projected labour supply is expected to meet forecasted job openings.
Source: Department of Finance, Occupation Projections (Summer 2023)
Number of Job Postings in 2023
During 2023, there were 649 public job postings for this occupation, with the following distribution:
| Avalon: 58% | Western: 17% |
| Eastern: 7% | Labrador: 4% |
| Central: 9% | NL-unspecified: 5% |
Source: Lightcast (note: data used in this analysis reflects new unique monthly postings which are totaled for the calendar year)
Who works as social and community service workers in Newfoundland and Labrador?
During the reference week of May 2021, there were approximately 2,145 people working in this occupation in Newfoundland and Labrador. 23% of those employed were Male+ and 77% of those employed were Female+.
Here is the age group breakdown for this group of workers:
| 15 to 24 | 25 to 54 | 55 to 64 | 65+ |
| 10% | 76% | 14% | 1% |
Source: Census 2021, Statistics Canada
How much do social and community service workers make?
Annual Earnings
The median employment income for all social and community service workers in the reference year 2020 (2,390 workers in total, including those working part-time and full-time, as well as part-year and full-year) was $47,600.
Source: Census 2021, Statistics Canada
Hourly Earnings
Salary information for social and community service workers in Newfoundland and Labrador is as follows:
| Low ($/hour) | Median ($/hour) | High ($/hour) | |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $17.50 | $24.00 | $37.00 |
The following low, median, and high wages are for Canada:
| Low ($/hour) | Median ($/hour) | High ($/hour) |
| $17.25 | $24.18 | $35.00 |
Source: Job Bank, Government of Canada
Most Frequently Sought Skills from Job Postings (2023)
- Housekeeping
- Personal Care
- Home Health Care
- Social Work
- Companionship
- Mental Health
- Linens
- Target Audience
- Crisis Intervention
- Life Skills Development
Source: Lightcast
What training is required?
- Completion of a college or university program in social work, child and youth care, psychology or other social science or health-related discipline is usually required.
- Previous work experience in a social service environment as a volunteer or in a support capacity may replace formal education requirements for some occupations in this unit group.
- Social service workers may be required to be a member of a provincial regulatory body in some provinces.
- Progression to professional occupations in social services, such as family and marriage counsellors, social workers, and probation and parole officers, is possible with additional training and experience.
Source: National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021, Employment and Social Development Canada
* Find public and private education, training and skills development opportunities in Newfoundland and Labrador here.