Client Access Worker

Sandy Hill Community Health Centre; Ottawa; On-site; CAD 56,000 - 69,000; Full time

Job summary

A community health organization in Ottawa seeks a Client Access Worker to engage, assess, and provide direct services to clients. This is a full-time role requiring a degree in Social Sciences and fluency in English and French. The position involves direct service, crisis intervention, group facilitation, and collaboration with various community services. An excellent benefits package including holidays and a pension plan is offered. Ideal for candidates with strong interpersonal and crisis intervention skills.

Benefits

4 weeks holiday

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan

Group insurance plan

Qualifications

• Baccalaureate degree in Social Sciences.
• Fluent in English and advanced French skills required.
• Two to four years of front-line client experience.

Responsibilities

• Engage, welcome, and assess the needs of clients.
• Provide timely information and referrals.
• Facilitate education groups and crisis counseling.

Skills

Client service skills

Crisis intervention skills

Interpersonal skills

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Education

Baccalaureate degree in Social Sciences or related discipline

Job description

Overview

Internal/External Employment Opportunity

Position: Client Access Worker/Intake Worker

Component/Team: Client Access Team

Status: One Year Contract, 1.0 FTE Full-Time (35 hours per week)

Salary Scale: $56,839 - $68,468 annualized salary plus benefits

Work location: On-Site at 221 Nelson Street

Vacancy status: This posting is for an existing vacancy

Start Date: Immediately

APPLICATION DEADLINE: February 13, 2026 at 4:00 p.m.

Position Description

The Client Access/Intake Worker plays a critical role in engaging, welcoming, assessing the needs of, and providing direct services and internal / external referrals for clients and community members. The Client Access/Intake Worker provides timely phone responses to requests for addiction and mental health information, requests for counseling services and requests for information about Centre and community services. The Client Access/Intake Worker provides information, intake, preliminary assessment and referral services to ensure seamless service provision. The Client Access Worker also facilitates education groups, and provides crisis counseling and follow-up supportive counseling. The Client Access Worker provides care coordination to support and promote a coordinated approach to treatment planning and service delivery. A large portion of this role involves group facilitation.

Reporting Relationship:

The position is directly accountable to the Client Access Team Lead, through the Team Lead to the Director of Community and Social Services and to the Executive Director.

Skills, Education and Experience

Requirements for this position include:

Education and Language

• A Baccalaureate degree in Social Sciences or a related discipline
• Be a member in good standing of a college or order such as the College of Registered Social Workers and Social Service Workers
• Under the Centre’s designation to provide French Language Services:
• French (oral expression): Advanced
• French (oral comprehension): Advanced +
• French (reading comprehension): Intermediate +
• Fluency in English, both oral and written

Professional Experience

• Two to four years front line client experience providing direct service in a social service setting, particularly with individuals living with Concurrent Disorders and/or their loved ones
• Experience facilitating groups such as SMART Recovery
• Experience conducting intake and preliminary psychosocial, substance use, problem gambling and mental health assessments
• Experience with motivational interviewing or other engagement strategies
• Experience working with a broad range of populations, including: at risk youth, street-involved people, people with mental health challenges and/or problematic substance use and their loved ones, multi-cultural communities and people experiencing significant barriers to access
• ASIST, Non-violent Crisis Intervention (NVCI), Motivational Interviewing and SMART Recovery training an asset
• Experience facilitating education groups

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge, understanding and sensitivity to substance use, problem gambling, mental health issues and concurrent disorders
• Ability to work within a harm reduction framework
• Knowledge of motivational interviewing techniques
• Knowledge and experience of the various approaches to substance use
• Knowledge and experience with supportive counseling techniques
• Knowledge of community resources in Ottawa
• Strong interpersonal, organizational and problem-solving skills
• Strong intake, assessment and triage skills
• Strong crisis intervention skills
• Ability to de-escalate crisis situations in a therapeutic manner
• Effective communication skills
• Ability to work under stress with multiple demands and tasks
• Demonstrated flexibility, good judgment, initiative & creativity
• Respect and valuing of the diversity of communities and individuals
• Demonstrated ability to exercise strong decision-making skills and deal with unpredictable situations
• Ability to identify client service needs and refer appropriately
• Ability to facilitate education groups of up to 25 participants
• A non-judgmental and positive attitude towards street-involved people, people who are HIV+ or who are at risk of becoming HIV+ and people with problematic substance use, mental illness and concurrent disorders
• Candidates must be comfortable facilitating groups

Benefits and Additional Information

Sandy Hill Community Health Centre offers employees an excellent benefits package which includes 4 weeks holiday (pro-rated to status) in addition to a Pension Plan (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan - HOOPP) and excellent group insurance plan.

Conditions of Employment

Hours of work will be developed in collaboration with the successful candidate to ensure a healthy work-life balance. A schedule of work will be based on the Centre’s hours of operation and program requirements and may include some evenings.

An offer of employment will be conditional upon the candidate completing a criminal reference check, verification of educational requirement for this position and linguistic profile to the satisfaction of the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre.

Accommodation

SHCHC will provide accommodation for applicants with disabilities in its recruitment process.

If at any stage in the selection process you require accommodation due to disability, please let us know the nature of the required accommodation.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Disclaimer

We value transparency in our hiring process. Please note that artificial intelligence (AI) is not used to screen or evaluate resumes. All applications will be reviewed by qualified human recruiters.

Clients of the Centre are welcome to apply. Should a client become the successful candidate, they will no longer be able to continue receiving services at Sandy Hill Community Health Centre. Assistance will be made available to find an alternative provider.

Only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. No phone calls please.

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