Support adults and kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live, work and belong. A 2-year diploma, and nearly every grad is hired.
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Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
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What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$54,000
New grad, agency
$40,000
Senior, school board or lead
$75,000
Job Bank's national median is $26 an hour, about $54,000 a year full time, with a spread of $19 to $36 an hour. Job Bank pools this job with other social and community service workers, so treat it as a rough guide. Agency wages in Ontario are set partly by provincial funding, which has lagged behind hospitals and schools.
$19 to $24 an hour
About $40,000 to $50,000 a year full time
Community living agencies and group homes hire most new grads. Many start on part-time or relief contracts and pick up hours at more than one agency.
$30 to $36 an hour
School board educational assistants, team leads and behaviour roles, around $62,000 to $75,000
School boards and hospitals pay better than agencies for the same diploma. Supervisors and case coordinators earn a little more again.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is the two year college diploma at a school like Fanshawe, about $7,200 in tuition in total, plus mandatory fees, a police check, CPR and first aid tickets and immunizations before your placement. The high end is a costlier college with fuller fees, textbooks and supplies across both years. Crisis intervention and medication training is usually paid for by the employer once you are working. Placements are unpaid, though many students pick up paid relief shifts at the agency where they are placed, which offsets part of the cost.
One of the cheapest health-adjacent diplomas. Placements are unpaid, but many students get paid relief shifts at their placement agency.
Union coverage
Most Ontario developmental services agencies are unionized, with health benefits and a pension plan.
Shift premiums
Group homes run around the clock; overnights and weekends pay extra.
Overtime
Staff shortages are chronic, so extra shifts are almost always available.
School-year schedule
Educational assistant jobs in schools come with summers off.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
One of the fastest routes into health and social services.
High school
Grade 12
Grade 12 English is the standard requirement. Volunteer with Special Olympics, Best Buddies or a local community living agency.
College diploma
1 to 2 years
The Developmental Services Worker program is a 2-year Ontario college diploma. Other provinces offer 1-year certificates or 2-year disability studies diplomas. Courses cover disabilities, positive behaviour support, health, counselling and advocacy.
Field placement
Built into the program
Fanshawe's program includes nearly 700 hours of community placement, including evening shifts.
First job
Weeks to months
Most grads are hired within months as direct support professionals, case coordinators or educational assistants.
English
Daily notes, support plans and incident reports.
Biology and health
Medications, seizures, feeding and personal care.
Psychology or family studies
Behaviour and development.
Physical education
The job is on your feet and sometimes involves lifting and transfers.
No province licenses developmental services workers, and there is no protected title. Employers decide what they need: most want the diploma, a vulnerable sector police check, first aid and crisis intervention training. Ontario funds adult services through regional Developmental Services Ontario offices, which is where most agency jobs sit.
Things you don't need, but that help.
Behaviour therapy or autism intervention
A graduate certificate in autism and behavioural science moves you into higher-paid instructor therapist roles.
Dual diagnosis training
Supporting people with both a developmental disability and a mental illness. Hospitals and specialized teams want it.
Degree in disability studies or social work
Needed for supervisor, case management and policy jobs.
Medication administration and first aid instructor
Small bumps, and agencies value them.
A driver's licence and clean abstract
You will drive clients to work, appointments and outings in agency vans.
Sign language or communication tools
Many clients do not communicate with speech.
Cooking and basic life skills
You teach them and do them.
Patience with paperwork
Every shift ends with documentation.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
In a group home: help residents get up, medications, breakfast, then out to a day program, a job or an appointment. Afternoons might be groceries, a walk, a medical visit or a community outing. Dinner, evening routines, charting. Overnight shifts are quieter but you are awake. In a school, you are attached to a student with complex needs for the whole day. A good day looks like nothing happened. That is the point.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Ontario closed its last large institutions for people with developmental disabilities in 2009. The work moved into small group homes, supported apartments and family homes in every town, which is why developmental services workers are needed everywhere, not just in cities.
Fanshawe College says the majority of its developmental services grads, if not all, find work within six months. Few 2-year diplomas can say that.
The field has deliberately shifted its language from caring for people to supporting them. The diploma teaches person-directed support: the person with the disability sets the goals, and the worker helps them get there.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.