Nursing Partnership for Learning, Employment, Development, Growth and Experience (Nursing PLEDGE)
Publicly funded long-term care homes in Ontario are eligible for funding through the Nursing Partnership for Learning, Employment, Development, Growth and Experience (Nursing PLEDGE) program to support the mentorship of nurses on their staff, enhancing quality of care and workforce stability within their long-term care home.
Participating long-term care homes may receive stipend funding for nurse mentors on their staff. Up to $39,000 per year for mentor stipends is available through this initiative.
Eligibility Criteria
Any Ontario long-term care licensee that receives public funding is eligible to apply for funding through the Nursing PLEDGE initiative.
A maximum allocation of $39,000 per year is available to support an average of 15 hours of dedicated mentorship per week. Homes may split the funding across up to 3 nurse mentors at a time.
To qualify as a nurse mentor, nurses must begin their dedicated mentorship role in an eligible long-term care home no earlier than December 1, 2025, and must be judged by their employer to have the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to provide coaching and mentorship to nurse mentees.
Note: Available funding will be pro-rated to 10 weeks for 2025-26.
Funding amounts will be communicated directly to long-term care homes by Ontario Health after completion of their application.
Application Instructions
Long-term care homes must submit an online Employer Application. Once your application has been processed, Ontario Health will communicate your available funding and provide next steps so you can begin offering mentorship opportunities to nurses.
Please ensure that you submit your application and receive confirmation of approval before offering the funding. You will be required to report mentor activity to Ontario Health.
Contact
If you have any questions about this program, please send an email to info-hfo@ontariohealth.ca.
Last Updated: January 12, 2026