Family members of people living in a Toronto-area group home say they are worried for their loved ones’ well-being as the home’s management is providing less than adequate answers as to how their loved ones will be cared for after support workers walked off the job earlier this week.
Support staff at Central West Specialized Development Services — a supportive living community for adults with developmental disabilities — walked off the job on Wednesday evening more than 40 days after CWSDS management requested a no-board report.
The workers, who are represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 249, have been replaced in the meantime by third-party agency staff who will care for residents while the strike is ongoing.
Rabia Khedr, whose brother Shah Khan lives in a CWSDS home, says she has a number of “unanswered questions” about the quality of care her brother will receive while his regular support staff are on the picket line and feels shut out by CWSDS management.
Khedr says her confidence to get answers from the home’s management is low after CWSDS management moved several residents from group homes in Burlington, Halton Hills, Mississauga and Oakville into its main Oakville facility without family members’ consent
CWSDS CEO Patricia Kyle says the home’s “top priority is the safety and well-being” of those in CWSDS’ care while the strike continues.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2025.
