The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario
(AECEO) is your professional association.


Click here to become a member.          Click here to donate.


Mission

Our mission is to build and support a strong collective voice for early childhood educators (ECEs) so they can participate in and influence positive change that benefits ECEs, children, families, and communities.

We are dedicated to ensuring First Nation, Inuit, Métis and Afro-Indigenous educators are positioned to lead the resurgence of Indigenous communities. 

Our work explicitly aims to be anti-racist, anti-oppressive, and inclusive to honour and acknowledge the diverse perspectives and gifts of our community members.

We intentionally acknowledge the unique barriers unrecognized and underserved communities face. Supporting these communities to be architects of the sector is critical to developing a truly inclusive child care system.


Purpose

The Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario has been the professional association for ECEs in Ontario for 71 years. We advocate for respect, recognition, and appropriate wages & working conditions for all ECEs. The AECEO serves our members and the ECE community by:

  • Building the capacity and leadership of ECEs to advocate for their profession and the children and families they care for.
  • Participation in advocacy and advisory towards the provincial government and other decision makers to promote the quality of programs through increased recognition and compensation for ECEs.
  • Raising and disseminating ECEs’ questions and concerns arising from new policies and programs and changes to current systems.
  • Collecting, analyzing and circulating relevant policy and research with a particular focus on implications and opportunities for the ECE workforce.
  • Supporting ECEs to connect with each other and to become more knowledgeable about the policies and systems that impact their daily work.
  • Working with partners to advocate for a high quality, publicly funded early childhood education and child care system that serves children from 0 – 12 years old, one that provides professional wages and working conditions for the ECE workforce.

College of ECE & AECEO


  • Latest from the blog

    Pride Month 2023

    We welcome Pride Month this year with joy and celebration and with the knowledge that love, care, and community are the building blocks of the world. At the AECEO we say that educators are world builders. As ECEs we help to craft the worlds that children and families experience. We craft worlds with our intent, with our skills and knowledge, and with our relationships and our care. In the face of a world that is increasingly, openly hostile to 2SLGBTQIA+ people, it has NEVER been more important that educators step bravely, visibly, and loudly into our obligation to create better worlds for 2SLGBTQIA+ children and families. The AECEO recognizes that being an activist can present risks and we are committed to creating safe spaces for our community and stand together as we advocate for equal access to rights and protections. We step into this Pride Month with the knowledge that around the world 2SLGBTQIA+ children and families have been forced onto the frontlines of a homophobic and transphobic war of rhetoric that they did not choose, and that offers them no mercy.  On this continent and others, 2SLGBTQIA+ children, families, and educators are faced with constant and overwhelming news cycles that show those in authority - or those seeking authority - expressing hatred and violence towards them without remorse or redress. Those who hope to sow fear for political gain are silencing queer stories, disavowing trans humanity, and questioning the very right of 2SLGBTQIA+ people to exist. This is not an issue faced only by our neighbours to the south. Here in Ontario, in our home towns, prospective school board trustees ran openly anti-trans municipal election campaigns; library story hours have been picketed by adults chanting hateful and harmful messages; and children, not immune or unconscious to the 24 hour news cycle, are quietly afraid. As world builders, as educators, our work is clear. This June we will celebrate Pride with joy, for ourselves, our families, and our communities.  We will also speak out. We will keep raising our voices until every 2SLGBTQIA+ child in our care, and every 2SLGBTQIA+ family in our community, and every 2SLGBTQIA+ educator in our sector has a world where they belong. A world where they are safe to engage as their authentic selves, where their expression is gratefully welcomed, and their well-being is assured and nurtured. With love and Pride, The AECEO team
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    Ontario Child Care Community Day of Action

    Last November, ECEs, child care workers, operators, families and community members came together to talk about the child care workforce shortage and how to solve it. Half a year has gone by and Ontario Child Care is currently facing its worst recruitment and retention crisis to date. It's crucial that the new Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system is built right: with better pay, better quality and better access. The child care shortage won’t be solved without a funding formula and workforce strategy that provide decent wages and working conditions for educators and a serious, public plan to expand child care spaces. We need action, NOW!  Join us on Tuesday June 20th to demand action on the workforce crisis and tell government that child care is worth MORE!  Updated resources coming soon!      
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