Eli's Place is opening Canada's first long-term residential therapeutic community for young adults living with serious mental illness, on a 600-acre working farm north of Guelph. We're building a founding team, and the Work Team Lead is one of the people who make meaningful work part of how Guests recover.
Work Team Leads work side by side with Guests across the property's fields, gardens and conservation lands, and indoors on food production, facility care and other practical work. This is where meaningful work becomes therapeutic, not through instruction from a distance, but through steady presence alongside a Guest as they take on a task, work through it and see it done. You'll calibrate the work to what each Guest can manage on a given day, and carry what you notice back to the clinical team. As one of our first Work Team Leads, you'll help shape the work program as the community takes shape.
The role reports to the Work Teams Manager and works closely with the clinical team and the IJC farm team. It's full-time and on site, and the schedule follows the work program, so it includes some hours outside the regular workday.
What you'll do
- Work side by side with Guests across the farm, gardens, conservation lands and indoor tasks like food production and facility care
- Supervise and support Guest participation in the work program, keeping it safe and productive
- Ground each Guest in tasks suited to what they can manage that day, and calibrate the work to their needs
- Notice changes in a Guest's wellbeing during work and respond supportively, involving the clinical team as needed
- Implement each Guest's therapeutic goals and care plan within the work program, observing and documenting progress
- Report observations back to the clinical team to inform treatment planning, and help establish the work program's safety and documentation practices
What we're looking for
- A degree or diploma in social work, psychology, education or a related human services field, or equivalent experience working with adults living with serious mental illness
- Experience in a community-based, recovery-oriented or residential setting is preferred
- Interest in or aptitude for hands-on, practical work, indoors and outdoors, is an asset
- Warm, consistent and boundaried relationships with Guests
- Ability to calibrate tasks to what a Guest can manage on a given day
- Emotional steadiness in a complex care environment
- Clear, timely communication with the clinical team and the IJC farm team
Compensation and benefits
The salary range is $58,000 to $70,000, based on experience and qualifications. Eli's Place offers a competitive health and wellness benefits package, three weeks of vacation and a dedicated professional development fund.
This is a small founding team building something that has never existed in Canada, on a working farm where the daily environment is unlike anything an institutional or urban setting can offer. For the right person, that context is as much a part of the offer as the salary.
How to apply
You can submit your resume and cover letter to [email protected]. Please read the full job profile and instructions on how to apply at https://elisplace.org/careers/.
Review of applications begins September 14, 2026 and the posting stays open until filled, so we encourage early submission. We're looking for someone who can start before November 7, 2026.
Eli's Place is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from all backgrounds. In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, priority will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
Pay: $58,000.00-$70,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
