Temporary healthcare staffing
Agency shifts across Ontario for RNs, RPNs and PSWs — from a single night you cannot fill to six months of vacancy cover, booked through one desk that answers 24/7.
“Temporary” means five different things. Say which one you mean.
The word covers everything from a call at midnight to a planned six-month bridge, and the right answer is different for each.
The single shift
Someone called in. You need a name for tonight. Highest urgency, lowest continuity, and the shift type where a 24/7 desk actually earns its keep.
The recurring line
The same shift, the same day, every week. The same worker wherever we can hold it — which is how agency coverage stops feeling like agency coverage.
The block booking
A run of consecutive shifts covering a leave, a vacation or a training period. Best continuity, best rate, easiest to staff well.
Vacancy cover
A position is open and recruitment will take months. We hold the line so the rest of your team is not absorbing it, and we can run the search in parallel.
Surge and outbreak
Volume that appears quickly and has to be staffed by people who can be oriented fast and screened properly. Tell us early, even before you are sure.
Trial before permanent
An assignment that both sides treat as an extended interview. Agree the conversion terms at the start rather than negotiating them once everyone is attached.
What notice actually buys you
We would rather set this expectation now than on the phone at 04:00.
| Notice | What is realistic |
|---|---|
| Same day / overnight | Possible in markets where we hold depth. Days are easier than nights; weekdays are easier than statutory holidays. We tell you yes or no on the call rather than accepting the shift and releasing it later. |
| 24 to 72 hours | Good odds on RPN and PSW lines, and reasonable on RN. Enough time to send someone who has been oriented to your site. |
| One to two weeks | We can usually name the worker, and often the same worker for the whole run. |
| A month or more | Block booking territory. Best continuity, best rate, and time to orient properly before the first shift. |
Coverage depends on who we have near your site, not on a promise made in a tender document. Ask any agency what happened to the last three shifts they released, and how you found out.
Roles we cover
The same screening file applies whether someone is with you for one shift or six months.
- Registered Nurses — charge shifts, admissions and assessments, IV and complex wound care, unstable residents.
- Registered Practical Nurses — medication and treatment rounds, assisted living and memory care, stable populations.
- Personal Support Workers — personal care, transfers, feeding, mobility, restorative and companionship.
- Support roles — where your site needs them alongside clinical coverage. Ask us what we hold in your region.
Verified before the first shift, not after it
Every worker we place has been through the same file before they are offered to you.
- Government photo identification and proof of eligibility to work in Canada.
- Current registration and standing confirmed directly on the College of Nurses of Ontario register, where the role is regulated — not from a document the candidate hands us.
- Police vulnerable sector check completed and reviewed.
- References spoken to, from previous supervisors.
- Immunization and health records on file and kept current for the settings we place into.
- AODA, WHMIS, worker health and safety awareness and workplace violence and harassment training, plus orientation to your site.
What it costs, honestly
One hourly bill rate per role and shift type. No separate invoice lines for screening, training, statutory costs or coordination — those are what the rate is for.
Nights, weekends, statutory holidays and short-notice fills carry a premium, because they are harder to staff and we pay more to staff them. Block bookings and recurring lines cost less per hour than scattered single shifts, and they produce far better continuity, which is usually the more valuable half of the deal.
We do not publish rates, because a number that is right for a block-booked RPN line in Mississauga is wrong for an overnight RN fill in a smaller market, and publishing one would mislead most of the people reading this page. Send the roster and we will quote it in writing.
Questions from scheduling and procurement
Who employs the worker on an agency shift?
We do. The workers we place are employed and paid by Help Now Healthcare, with payroll, source deductions, WSIB coverage and Employment Standards Act entitlements administered by us.
What happens if a booked worker does not arrive?
You call one number, at any hour, and a coordinator re-fills it. If we cannot backfill, you hear that from us immediately — not from your charge nurse at handover.
Can we request specific people back?
Yes, and please do. Named-worker requests and recurring lines are the most effective thing a client can do to make agency coverage feel like their own team.
Can we exclude someone?
Yes, without needing to justify it. Tell the coordinator and they will not be scheduled to your site again.
Is there a minimum shift length or a minimum volume?
Minimums depend on the role, the region and the travel involved. We will tell you before you commit to anything, and we will tell you when a request is too small for us to staff reliably.
Can we hire an agency worker permanently?
Yes. Agree the conversion terms at the start of the assignment rather than after everyone is attached. Permanent recruitment
What reporting do we get?
Who worked, when, and what has been verified about them — in a form you can put in front of a surveyor without assembling it the night before.
Request temporary staff
Send the shifts you need covered and the date they start.
Send the site, the roles, the shifts and the start date. We come back with what we can actually cover — including when the answer is that we cannot.
Answered 24/7 on 1-888-507-6236.
Request staff