PSW / Healthcare Aide Interview Questions (Canada)

What to expect

Healthcare Aide interviews in Canada (NOC 33102) are scenario-heavy. Expect resident-care scenarios (refusing care, sundowning, fall-risk, end-of-life), shift-availability questions, and a short walk through your provincial registration and First Aid currency.

See the matching NOC 33102 guide, the resume example, and the cover letter example.

Behavioural questions

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why do you want to work here?
3. Tell me about a time you handled a difficult coworker.
4. Describe a time you had to meet a tight deadline.
5. Tell me about a mistake you made at work and what you learned.
6. Walk me through a time you had to learn something new quickly.
7. Describe a situation where you had to push back on a stakeholder.

Healthcare Aide / PSW-specific questions

1. Walk me through your morning ADL routine for 8 residents.
2. What do you do if a resident refuses their morning care?
3. How do you respond to a fall at the start of your shift?
4. Describe how you handle sundowning behaviour.
5. What's your approach to palliative residents and family?
6. How do you document in PointClickCare?
7. Are you comfortable with rotating 8- and 12-hour shifts including overnights?

Culture-fit questions

1. Where do you see yourself in 3 years?
2. What's your salary expectation?
3. Why are you leaving your current role?
4. How do you handle feedback?
5. What's your preferred working style — independent or team-based?
6. Do you have questions for us?

STAR-method sample answer

Question: Tell me about a time you noticed a change in a resident's condition.

Situation. On a night shift at CapitalCare, a normally chatty resident became withdrawn and her oral intake had dropped sharply over 24 hours.

Task. Document, escalate appropriately, and protect her overnight.

Action. I took vitals, did a focused skin check, documented in PCC, and SBARed the on-call RN. The RN ordered a UA which came back positive for UTI.

Result. Antibiotics started before morning, the resident was back to baseline within 48 hours, and the case was used as a teaching example at our next huddle.

Smart questions to ask back

1. What does success look like in the first 90 days?
2. Who would I be working with day-to-day, and how is the team structured?
3. What's the biggest challenge facing this team right now?
4. How is performance measured and reviewed?
5. What do you enjoy most about working here?

Related guides

• STAR interview method
• Common interview questions Canada
• When to follow up after applying