This page will help you navigate our upcoming Accreditation process as a volunteer at Circle of Care. Together, we’ll demonstrate the high standards of care and community service we practice every day.
Accreditation Resources
From October 13-16, 2026, surveyors from Accreditation Canada will be on-site speaking to staff, volunteers, clients, and families to observe the work we do every day.
What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is an ongoing process of assessing Circle of Care against national and global standards to identify our strengths and areas for improvement. Hospitals, doctor’s offices, seniors and residential homes, rehabilitation centres, home care agencies, medical labs, health education programs, and many other health care settings go through the process of Accreditation.
Accreditation helps organizations like ours:
- Understand how to make better use of their resources
- Increase efficiency
- Enhance quality and safety
- Reduce risk
- Highlight to our clients and community that we are an organization that continuously evaluates and re-evaluates our practices in order to ensure our work is high quality and aligns with best practices
Earning the Accreditation Canada seal is a sign that an organization has worked hard to meet standards related to safe, high-quality care.
Standards
Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC)
How does Circle of Care prevent the spread of infection among clients, volunteers, and staff?
Service Excellence
How does Circle of Care provide equitable, inclusive, and person-centred care in our daily programs and services? How do we ensure we are continuously improving?
Home Support Services
How does Circle of Care provide safe, reliable, and consistent care throughout a client’s care journey with us?
Medication Management
How does Circle of Care ensure safe, appropriate, and well-documented medication management for the clients it serves?
Leadership
How does the leadership team foster a supportive environment where staff feel informed, empowered, and comfortable speaking up to ensure safe, high-quality care?
Governance
How does Circle of Care make sure the right priorities are set, monitored, and acted on?
Your Role
When surveyors from Accreditation Canada visit us on-site from October 13-16, they may occasionally ask you a few questions about your work.
Please know that this is not a punitive process, and surveyors are not expecting perfection. Their goal is simply to understand how we work, ensure we’re following best practices, and see how we provide safe, high-quality care. They may ask about where you find information, how you escalate any concerns you might have, or how you carry out your role.
There will otherwise be no disruptions to your role during Accreditation.
How to Prepare
| Don’t panic! | Accreditation is about showcasing the work we do every day. Surveyors don’t expect perfection or memorization, but your adherence to policies and our best practices. |
| Review key policies and procedures related to your role/team | Especially as they relate to the 6 standards. |
| Know where to find information | No need to memorize everything. Know where to access policies, procedures, guidelines, and information when needed. |
| Know where and how to raise a concern | Make sure you are aware of the processes that are in place for raising concerns (i.e. immediate supervisor). |
| Ask questions | If you are unsure about policies and best practice procedures, have questions about Accreditation, or notice that something isn’t working as intended, raise it with your supervisor. |
| Refer to this Accreditation page on the Volunteer Portal | The Accreditation Volunteer Portal page will be regularly updated. You can refer to this page for more information on Accreditation standards, updates, and important documents. |
Resources & FAQ
Accreditation Bingo
As you reflect on how your program or service aligns with the Accreditation standards, we invite you to use our Accreditation Bingo activity. Not every section will be relevant to your day-to-day work – focus on the standards that are most applicable to your role and use them as a starting point for meaningful conversation and reflection.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Please feel free to use the form below to submit any questions you have about Accreditation. We will put together a list of frequently asked questions and update this page in the near future.