Careers at Brave Spaces
You are joining a team that has signed up for some of the most important work there is — walking with young people who have already been through more than most adults will face in a lifetime, and showing them that an adult can be safe, warm, and steady.
The work, honestly
This work is not "shift work that happens to involve youth." It is relational, demanding, occasionally heart-breaking, and consistently meaningful. The young people in our care have been through trauma you may not have encountered before. The reward is that you become a steady, trusted presence in a life that has not had many — and you watch a young person learn, slowly, that an adult can be safe.
We hire for values first, skills second. We will train you on policy, procedure, NVCI, trauma-informed care, and documentation. We cannot train warmth, humility, or the willingness to repair after rupture — those you bring with you.
Open positions
Child and Youth Care Worker (Full-Time)
Qualifications: CYC diploma minimum; 2+ years experience with high-needs youth; NVCI certifiable; Vulnerable Sector Check.
Hours: Day, evening, and weekend rotations. Full-time, with statutory benefits.
Compensation: $22–$25/hour to start, with progression. Probation 90 days with bi-weekly supervision.
Apply →CYC Worker (Relief / On-Call)
Qualifications: CYC diploma or equivalent; NVCI certifiable; VSC required.
Hours: Variable, on-call. First 30 days always paired with full-time staff.
Compensation: $22–$25/hour, casual.
Apply →Awake Overnight Staff
Qualifications: CYC diploma or equivalent; reliable overnight schedule; NVCI certifiable; VSC required.
Hours: 23:00–7:00 rotations. Awake overnight; documented safety checks per BSP.
Compensation: $20–$22/hour, plus overnight premium where applicable.
Apply →Practicum Students & Volunteers
Programs we partner with: CYC and Social Service Worker programs across the GTA. Always paired with a supervising staff member.
Requirements: Vulnerable Sector Check, mandatory reporting orientation, full policy library acknowledgement before any shift.
Inquire →What we hire for
- Warmth without losing boundaries. You can be deeply present with a young person without crossing professional lines.
- Curiosity over judgment. When a youth does something hard to understand, your first question is "what happened?" not "what's wrong with them?"
- Humility in the work. You bring your own bias work to supervision, not to the youth.
- Reflective practice. You can name your mistakes, repair openly, and learn.
- Cultural humility. You don't need to be a member of every community we serve — you need to be willing to learn, and to follow the youth's lead.
- Documentation discipline. You can write facts, not labels, contemporaneously, under fatigue.
Training, supervision, and growth
Brave Spaces invests in its team. All staff complete:
- Standard First Aid and CPR (current at all times)
- Trauma-Informed Care (OACAS or equivalent) — within 30 days
- NVCI certification — within 90 days
- 2SLGBTQ+ Affirming Practice — within 90 days
- Indigenous Cultural Safety and Anti-Racism — within first year
- Mandatory Reporting orientation at start
- Annual refresher cycle for all of the above
Supervision is bi-weekly during probation and monthly thereafter — with notes. The supervision space is for wellbeing as much as performance. Secondary trauma is occupational, not personal failure.
What you can expect on Day 1
A full day of welcome — Director's conversation, policy walk-through, home tour with safety walkthrough, BSP briefing on every current resident, paired shadow shift, end-of-day debrief. Detailed Day 1 to Week 1 runbook walks you through every hour. You are never thrown into independent shifts in your first 30 days.
How to apply
Send your résumé and a short note (not a formal cover letter) telling us:
- Why this work, and why now?
- One example of a time you noticed something in yourself — your conditioning, your discomfort, your reflex — and chose to bring it to supervision rather than act it out at a young person.
If we're a fit, we'll reach back within five business days for a phone conversation, then an in-person interview that includes a values-based panel and a written scenario response.