Peer Support Specialist - WMTS

Soar-Community-Services; Brantford; On-site; CAD 28,000 - 39,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Dental coverage

Vision coverage

Travel insurance

Vacation & leave

EAP program

RRSP/TFSA matching

Job summary

SOAR Community Services in Brantford, ON is seeking a Peer Support Specialist to assist individuals aged 16+ with substance use and mental health challenges. This role leverages lived recovery experience to build trust, provide encouragement, and support engagement in Withdrawal Management and Treatment Services.

Illustrated duties include leading peer groups, linking clients to recovery goals, and working within an interdisciplinary team.

Qualifications

• College diploma or certificate in any field.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
• Comfort identifying as a person with lived experience of recovery.
• Access to reliable transportation.
• Ability to work where exposure to trauma may occur.

Responsibilities

• Build supportive relationships with clients using lived recovery experience.
• Offer connection, encouragement, and hope to individuals with substance use and mental health challenges.
• Share recovery insights and coping strategies to foster hope.
• Facilitate peer-led groups.
• Support clients in identifying goals toward recovery and independence.
• Collaborate with staff and contribute to peer initiatives.
• Maintain professional boundaries and participate in agency peer activities.

Skills

Strong communication

Relationship-building

Peer support principles

Microsoft Office

Electronic databases

Transportation access

Education

College diploma or certificate

Tools

Microsoft Office

Electronic databases

Job description

Location: Brantford, ON

Hours: Full Time – Sunday-Thursday 2:30pm-10:00pm

At SOAR, we believe in lifting communities through compassionate, inclusive, and innovative care. Serving the communities of Brantford, Brant, Haldimand, and Norfolk since 1968, we are accredited in Children and Youth Mental Health, Community Mental Health and Addictions Services and Youth Justice Services through the Canadian Centre for Accreditation. Our departments include Employment, Justice, Mental Health and Addictions, and Housing. Join a team that’s committed to making a difference – every day.

The Opportunity

We are recruiting for a Peer Support Specialist. This role is a vital part of our Withdrawal Management and Treatment Services program. As a Peer Support Specialist, you will be supporting individuals aged 16+ experiencing substance use and concurrent mental health challengesby drawing on your own lived or living experience of recovery.

Peer Support Specialists are not counsellors. Their role is grounded in shared lived experience — building connection, offering encouragement, and helping others feel hopeful about recovery. This position is based within our Withdrawal Management and Treatment programs, where you will support clients as they begin their recovery journey by fostering connection, comfort, and engagement within the program. Peer Support Specialists also collaborate with peers across the agency and participate in SOAR’s broader peer support initiatives, contributing to the development and growth of peer programming across services.

What You’ll Do

• Build supportive relationships with clients by drawing on and appropriately sharing your lived or living experience of recovery
• Offer connection, encouragement, and hope to individuals navigating substance use and concurrent mental health challenges
• Share recovery insights and coping strategies to encourage hope and connection
• Facilitate peer-led groups
• Support clients in identifying personal goals and steps toward recovery and independence
• Work collaboratively with staff while bringing a peer perspective to the interdisciplinary team
• Maintain professional boundaries within the peer role and participate in agency-wide peer initiatives

What You’ll Bring

• Comfort identifying as a person with lived or living experience of substance use and/or mental health recovery and using that experience in a peer support role
• Ability to act as a positive recovery role model while respecting the individual paths of others
• Understanding peer support principles
• College diploma or certificate in any field
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills
• Comfort facilitating conversations and peer-led groups
• Experience with Microsoft Office and electronic databases
• Access to reliable transportation
• Ability to work in environments where exposure to direct and vicarious trauma may occur

Why Join SOAR?

• Salary: Starting at $24.25 per hour.
• Benefits: Comprehensive health, dental, vision, and travel insurance, with options fully paid for Full Time staff.
• Time off: 3 weeks’ vacation, 60 hours of personal leave, and 15 hours of wellness time (pro-rated first year).
• Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) for staff and their families.
• RSP/TFSA matching for eligible staff.
• A supportive, values-driven workplace that prioritizes your well-being.

Ready to Make an Impact?

We’re looking for someone passionate about empowering client voices, connection in community care and inclusion in action! If that’s you, we want to hear from you.

SOAR Community Services is committed to advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging within our workplace and across the communities we serve. We welcome applications from individuals with lived and living experience and from members of equity-deserving groups, including Indigenous, Black, and racialized communities, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, and persons with disabilities. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals. If you require accommodations as part of the hiring process, please let us know so that we may arrange for their provision.

Personal information submitted will only be used for the purposes of the competition in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Only those selected for an interview will be contacted.