Today, along with over 50 organizations and individuals, we are releasing an open letter calling for immediate and concrete action to support the safety and viability of licensed child care programs in Ontario. We need a provincial plan to make our young children’s care as safe as possible and to prevent the collapse of the child care sector.

• Reinstate eligibility for publicly-funded PCR tests to include children, families, Early Childhood Educators, child care providers and staff;
• Recommence COVID-19 case reporting in the child care sector;
• Increase financial support to licensed child care programs to ensure recruitment and retention of qualified staff;
• Provide 10 permanent paid sick days to support child care workers and families with mandatory isolation periods;
• Take responsibility for the health and safety of families and workers by clearly guiding operators facing cohort dismissals due to positive COVID-19 test results in their programs.

To read the open letter: https://www.childcareontario.org/open_letter

You can sign on to support the open letter here: https://www.childcareontario.org/sign_the_open_letter

This is the second in a series of initiatives to draw attention to the child care crisis in Ontario.

Together we can make a difference.

On January 20th we held the first in a series of Child Care Days of Action to demand that the Ontario government immediately act to protect this vital sector.

The child care community and allies from across Ontario flooded Premier Ford’s phone line with calls about child care, demanding that the Ontario government:

• Reinstate PCR testing and reporting in child care;
• Increase financial support to child care;
• Provide adequate and ongoing supply of PPE;
• Legislate 10 permanent paid sick days; and
• Sign the $10 a day child care agreement.

This phone blitz was just the first in a series of escalating actions as we draw attention to the child care crisis in Ontario.  

We thank the many people from all over the province who participated in the Child Care Day of Action.

Today we sent a letter to Education Minister Stephen Lecce expressing our concern with the December 30th updated guidelines.

"These new, and weakened, guidelines will have deep implications for Ontario’s children, families, ECEs and child care providers/staff, who will face increasing isolation periods without access to testing, increased financial uncertainty without increased provincial support, and a complete lack of protection and respect for their health and well-being. The child care sector has gone above and beyond to pivot, adapt, and support Ontario’s children and families. This downloading of responsibility disrespects their hard work and Ontario’s children and families.

We urge the Ministry of Education to:
• Ensure that all children, families, and educators in Ontario’s child care and education systems can access timely, publicly-funded, PCR tests
• Source additional RATs to ensure all children, families, ECEs and child care providers/staff have immediate access to RATs through their child care program, distributed by the Province
• Support transparency by continuing reporting of COVID-19 cases in the child care sector
• Immediately increase financial support to licensed child care programs to support staff recruitment and retention, including addressing low wages and challenging working conditions, and offset family fees during isolation periods
• Expedite the distribution of N95 masks to the child care sector
• Ensure access to 10 permanent paid sick days to support educators and families with mandatory isolation periods"

We encourage you to contact your MPP and share your concerns as well. Together, we are stronger.

To read and share the full letter, click here.

We have heard the voices of Early Childhood Educators from across Ontario about the lack of support for the ECE workforce and child care programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. ECEs, early years staff and child care providers have been on the front lines in this pandemic for almost 2 years, have risen to every challenge, and ensured that children in their programs are receiving the care and learning experiences they deserve. They have been professional in their response the changing protocols and conflicting communication, have worked to build confidence in families, and they have done this while being concerned about the health and wellbeing of children, their communities, themselves, and their own families.

The workforce crisis is a reality in Ontario. We know that wages and working conditions are the primary problem being experienced by the ECE workforce and have called for action to address it, and the implementation of sustainable, long-term solutions such as a workforce strategy with a publicly funded wage grid.

We have shared these concerns in our meetings with Ministry staff, and also in a letter to Education Minister Stephen Lecce. We encourage you as well to share your concerns directly with the Ministry at: [email protected]. 

We are hiring!

Position: Executive Director – Maternity Leave Contract (13 months)

Deadline for application: December 10, 2021

The Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario is the professional association for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) and its primary purpose is to advocate for respect, recognition and appropriate wages and working conditions for all ECEs. We work collectively and collaboratively with communities to build and support a strong collective voice for early childhood educators so they can participate in and influence positive change that benefits ECEs, children, families and communities.

Job Description: Responsible for the successful leadership and management of the organization according to the strategic direction and coordinating the organization’s staff team, activities, projects and policy development. This position reports directly to the Board of Directors (the board).

Primary Responsibilities:

 Public relations & public policy

• Monitor, research, evaluate and respond to public policy, budgetary and sector developments centring their impacts on the early childhood (EC) workforce and the broader sector, for example (prepare written submissions, Op-Eds, open letters, etc., depute/discuss in government consultations and meetings, and in media interviews)
• Engage and listen to the EC workforce and create opportunities for their voices to lead across the organization’s work
• Establish and maintain professional working relations and cooperative arrangements with members, community stakeholders, other organizations, the College of ECE and government
• Represent the AECEO in the sector, broader social justice community and in the media through public speaking (webinars, panels, etc)
• Research, develop and coordinate outreach and advocacy materials, fact sheets, presentations, press releases and targeted communications

Project management

• Coordinate and oversee the work of staff team and volunteers, ensuring the completion of project deliverables/agreements
• Work with staff team on the development and implementation of member engagement, recruitment, and retention strategies
• Prepare reports to funders as required
• Lead the development, implementation, and coordination of advocacy campaigns

Communications

• Collaborate to manage the organization’s social media accounts
• Collaborate to plan, develop, and coordinate marketing strategies for, but not limited to, events, programs, promotional strategies and materials, and outreach
• Contribute to the content, publication, and dissemination process for the AECEO’s quarterly eceLINK magazine

Financial

• Lead the staff team in the development and monitoring of annual and projects budgets ensuring the organization operates within budget guidelines
• Establish and maintain relations with funders and project partners
• Research availability of ongoing and project funding and develop grant or funding proposals that will support organizational projects and strategic plans

Legal

• Ensure the organization maintains legal counsel when necessary
• Ensure all legal obligations are met

Qualifications

Degree in Early Childhood Education, Communications, Humanities, Social or Political Science or a related field of study, or equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience critiquing, developing, and advocating for social policies related to the ECE workforce an asset. 

Skills, knowledge, and experience

 Required

• Strong writing skills
• Confident public speaker
• Experience in public policy analysis and development, and government decision-making processes
• Demonstrated familiarity and competency with standard office software and video conferencing technology e.g., Microsoft Office 365, Zoom, Google Meet,
• Strong collaborative leadership skills
• Project and time management skills
• Ability to build and maintain strong and collaborative relationships with diverse partners and stakeholders
• Ability to work evenings and weekends and flexible hours
• Ability to work within anti-racist and anti-oppressive frameworks

 Preferred

• Experience coordinating project/staff team
• Experience working with racialized communities, knowledge of anti-racism work, and the ability to work within racially diverse teams
• Knowledge and understanding of critical theories of early childhood
• Understanding of care ethics and commitment to creating a caring, non-hierarchical, organizational culture

Asset

• Registered Early Childhood Educator
• G drivers license or equivalent full drivers license

This is a full time, salaried, 13-month contract position to cover a maternity leave.

The AECEO is committed to leading with our values and ethics. This means we value the lived experiences of our applicants and believe potential and passion can be as valuable as credentials. We encourage applications from Black, First Nation, Métis, Inuit, and racialized individuals; Two-Spirit, non-binary, trans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer people; disabled people; and members of other equity-seeking groups. As part of our learning and growth, we have made a commitment to implementing anti-racist hiring practices (see below).

If you are contacted by the AECEO regarding this job opportunity and require an accommodation due to disability to participate in the recruitment and selection process, please advise and we will work with you to meet your needs.

Start Date: February 14^th, 2021

Salary: 67,000/year, plus benefits after 3 months

Work location: Remote/from home

Please submit cover letter, and resume to [email protected] by 5pm, December 10, 2021. Only candidates who are selected for interviews will be contacted. Interviews will take place in early-mid January 2022. A writing sample will be requested from candidates when confirming an interview.

Download job posting PDF

As part of our ongoing learning and commitment to working within an anti-racist and anti-oppressive framework, the AECEO has committed to the following Anti-racist hiring practices:

• Public commitment to anti-racist hiring practice in job postings
• Share job postings on diverse job boards/through networks
• Create standardized interview questions
• No social media screening of applicants/candidates
• Diversity in hiring committee
• Commitment from hiring committee members to anti-bias and anti-racist hiring

Negotiations are ramping up – Ontario and Canada are meeting this week to hammer out an agreement on $10.2 Billion in child care funding! 

It’s time to rise up and keep the pressure on to make sure Ontario signs a deal that meets the needs of our communities. The child care community knows what Ontario needs. We have a Roadmap to Universal Child Care. It’s time to get the deal done so that municipalities and the community can get to work making things happen across the province.

The Ontario child care sector has been supporting children and families throughout the pandemic, under challenging and constrained circumstances. With $10.2 Billion on the table for Ontario, we know the sector is ready to move forward with new supports. 

It’s time for affordable fees for families, decent work and pay for educators and expanding the non-profit sector to allow more families to access high-quality early learning and child care in Ontario. Children, families and educators deserve this deal now.

What we’re asking you to do:

There are 3 ways you can participate in this campaign! You can do all or just the ones you are most comfortable with.

1. Call Premier Ford and tell him to sign on to the deal. You can copy the phone call script here and call Premier Ford to share your story.

2. Share on social Media: Download the poster and print it or save it to edit on your computer. Check off which of the 3 big ideas (affordable fees, decent work and pay, non-profit expansion) means the most to you right now (it could be all 3!). Add a statement into the open space about what this would mean for you. For example, “Decent Work and Pay would mean I can afford groceries for my family”, or “Affordable fees would mean I can make decisions about my child’s care based on what’s best for them, not just what we can afford”, or “Non-profit expansion matters to me so that every dollar goes into my child’s care and well-being”.

Take a selfie with your poster or take a photo of your poster and share on social media and directly with us by email to [email protected]. You can also use the hashtags #RisingUpForChildCare #DecentWork and #ECEPower and tag us in your posts.

3. Sign our petition to send an email Premier Ford and Minister Lecce and tell them to sign the deal: https://www.childcareontario.org/sign_the_child_care_agreement . If you've already signed the petition, send it to five friends or share it on social media. 

Together we can move child care forward!  

December 1st 7:00pm

The AECEO invites you to join kindergarten educators from across the province for the next in our ongoing series of Kindergarten Conversations on Wednesday December 1st at 7:00PM.
Let's come together once again to connect and share our experiences, concerns and knowledge - and talk about how we can move forward together.

Register to join the conversation here:

We were disappointed that Ontario's Fall Economic Statement did not include new funding to address the urgent needs of ECEs, early years staff/providers and the child care and early years sector. We know that no matter where you work, you have faced numerous challenges over the last 18 months, many of which preexisted the pandemic.

And while we advocate for Ontario to sign a child care deal with the Federal government, we must also remember that Ontario has a responsibility to fund and support the child care and early years sector. You deserve it, and children and families deserve it.

To see the Ontario's Fall Economic Statement you can visit: https://budget.ontario.ca/2021/fallstatement/pdf/2021-fall-statement-en.pdf? (Child Care can be found on pg. 79 and Education/Kindergarten on pg. 64) 

To read our Roadmap to Universal Child Care you can visit: https://www.aeceo.ca/roadmap_and_toolkit_launch

To view our new advocacy resources for Kindergarten RECEs please visit: https://www.aeceo.ca/kindergarten_resources

Author Guidelines 

Subject parameters: Early Childhood Policy, Early Childhood Practice, Early Childhood Pedagogy, Social Justice in ECE, Professionalism, Disability and Inclusion in ECE, Environmentalism in ECE, Collaborative Practices, Diversity in ECE, Action Research in ECE, Early Childhood Classroom Issues at the Program Level, Pedagogical documentation, Engaging How does Learning Happen?  

Form and Style 

Style should be consistent with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Edition). The journal uses Canadian spelling; please consult the Oxford Canadian Dictionary. The editors welcome manuscripts between 5000-8000 words. 

Submission deadline:  February 1, 2022

Full submission guidelines

In this issue:

• Interview with Métis Nation of Ontario’s Early Learning And Child Care Program
• “A Lifeline for Many”: Asserting The Foundational Role Of Family Support Programs And Family Support Workers In ECEC Throughout COVID-19 And Beyond
• A Black Canadian Male RECE Perspective - Anti Black Racism In The Early Years
• Professional Development In The Early Childhood Education Workplace: A Personal Journey

The Peer Reviewed Collection:

• Outdoor Learning And Experiences As A Way Forward During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Beyond
• Leading Post-Pandemic Organizational Change In Early Childhood Education

We would like to thank the following for helping to support this issue of the eceLINK:

Johnson Insurance

 (AECEO MEMBER ACCESS FOR FULL CONTENT)

Click HERE to become an AECEO member or renew!

This year's Week of Action will feature many exciting community building and advocacy activities!

Monday Oct 18: Nominate an ECE Hero

*Winners will be selected at random (5 nominees, 5 nominators) to receive $50 gift cards and announced on October 22nd.

Nomination Form

Tuesday Oct 19: Heroes Rising Up Virtual Rally and Action 7-8:30 pm

Join educators, advocates and allies for an evening to celebrate ECE heroes! We will hear and share stories from ECE's, celebrate and show our gratitude for the work of ECEs in the last year, and participate in a phone zap together to press for positive change for our sector! All Rally attendees will be entered in a door prize draw for Appreciation Prizes!

Registration

Phone Zap Script  (can be used anytime to phone zap your representative)

Wednesday Oct 20: Email your MPP

Email your Member of Provincial Parliament to call on them to support a national child care agreement and the AECEO/OCBCC Roadmap to Universal Child Care in Ontario. Find your MPP here, and their email address here.

Copy and paste the email letter template into your own document.

Thursday Oct 21: Child Care Worker and Early Childhood Educator Appreciation Day!!

Visit the OCBCC's website for downloadable Appreciation Certificates, tips for celebrating the day, pdf versions of the poster and social media shareables.

Friday October 22: Prize draws for ECE Hero winners!

(See Monday's action)

5 nominees and 5 nominators will each receive $50 gift cards drawn at random and announced on October 22nd!

In its 2021 budget the Government of Canada announced it was establishing a Canada-wide early learning and child care system and said "The federal government will work with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to build a Canada-wide, community-based system of quality child care."  

After thorough consultation with the Child Care and Early Years community, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario developed a Roadmap to Universal Child Care in Ontario - toward our vision of what a Canada-wide child care system can and must be in Ontario. The Roadmap includes 20 key policy interventions to achieving universal child care in Ontario. We know this is the beginning of a journey and we want to continue to hear from you. The Roadmap contains Discussion Questions and a feedback mechanism, as well as an invitation to highlight your program and contribute Policy Briefs as we continue this collective work.

Download the Roadmap

We are very excited to announce that we have been awarded a new 3 year project entitled Building Leadership and Learning Communities. 

This project aims to connect, support and empower Early Childhood Educators in Ontario through Communities of Practice: active local networks where ECEs can share their challenges and strengths, create peer and mentorship relationships, and engage in professional learning and advocacy. We will work to develop and support six new Communities of Practice and implement a new professional learning model to reach more educators across the province. Through our Communities of Practice and professional learning experiences, we will strive to support ECEs’ sense of belonging, well-being, professionalism, leadership capacity, pedagogy and practice with children and families.

In order to implement this project we are recruiting new team members for the following positions:

Project Coordinator

Professional Learning Coordinator

Community Organizer

As part of our ongoing learning and commitment to working within an anti-racist and anti-oppressive framework, the AECEO has committed to the following Anti-racist hiring practices:

• Public commitment to anti-racist hiring practice in job postings
• Share job postings on diverse job boards/through networks
• Create standardized interview questions
• No social media screening of applicants/candidates
• Diversity in hiring committee
• Commitment from hiring committee members to anti-bias and anti-racist hiring

If you have any questions about our hiring process, please contact [email protected].

In its 2021 budget the Government of Canada announced it was establishing a Canada-wide early learning and child care system and said "The federal government will work with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to build a Canada-wide, community-based system of quality child care."  

On July 8th the Governments of Canada and British Columbia announced the first early learning and child care agreeement under this plan.

After thorough consultation with the Child Care and Early Years community, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario have developed a Roadmap to Universal Child Care in Ontario - toward our vision of what a Canada-wide child care system can and must be in Ontario. The Roadmap includes 20 key policy interventions to achieving universal child care in Ontario. We know this is the beginning of a journey and we want to continue to hear from you. The Roadmap contains Discussion Questions and a feedback mechanism, as well as an invitation to highlight your program and contribute Policy Briefs as we continue this collective work.  

We know Ontario’s child care sector and allies are ready to advocate for a Canada-wide child care system! To support this and show our collective ECEPower we have created a Toolkit of fun activities to communicate with and engage children, parents/families and their networks on the Roadmap. This Toolkit of "Take Action Tuesday" activities is designed to align with the important work you are doing with young children and to highlight the skills that you already have in organizing.

This campaign is important because we have an opportunity to steer the future course of child care in Ontario and across our nation. We can impact the decisions made by joining our communities together and letting our voices ring out for universal child care! This is an exciting time - the promise of a national child care plan gives us much to celebrate!

Click HERE to see the presentation of the Roadmap and Toolkit at the Take Action Together: Community Connections webinar held on July 8th.

Download the Roadmap to Universal Child Care in Ontario

Share your feedback on the Roadmap here: https://www.childcareontario.org/roadmap_feedback

The full Toolkit, including activity calendar and downloadable templates, is available on the OCBCC website:  https://www.childcareontario.org/roadmap_action_toolkit

Join us this Thursday, July 8^th from 7-8:30pm for our next webinar on child care advocacy in Ontario: Take Action Together: Community Connections. We will start with an update on our Road Map and review our vision of what a Canada-wide child care system can do for Ontario. We will walk through our Summer Advocacy Tool-Kit and talk about the power of collective action. Then we will move into regional break out rooms hosted by local advocates to connect, think, organize, and plan together. There will be time for Q and A's. Looking forward to seeing you there! 

Many thanks to everyone who was able to join the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care for the webinar about what’s next for child care advocacy in Ontario. For those who were unable to join, the slides and audio of the webinar are available below. We regret that due to technical issues the video of the webinar is not postable/shareable. Our apologies for any inconvenience. Link to Webinar slides Link to Webinar audio

Please help shape the next steps by submitting your ideas at the "Mentimeter" links below:

What would a Canada-wide child care system mean to you?: https://www.menti.com/z644sqr3h3

What do you want to see in an Ontario child care system?: https://www.menti.com/ffdhycbyy

What kind of actions/activities do YOU want to do?: https://www.menti.com/859mn9wdkm

Sign up here for the Roadmap and Toolkit Launch!

https://www.childcareontario.org/roadmap_toolkit_launch

Next Webinar - Take Action Together: Community Conversations

We were so excited by the energy on the "Next Steps" webinar and recognize there was not an opportunity to for dialogue, questions and connecting in a small group. We want to make that possible, so we invite you to join us for Take Action Together: Community Conversations on Thursday, July 8^th from 7:00 – 8:30pm. In this virtual meeting we will review the advocacy tool-kit together, connect in small, regional break outs, and think about how we can take action together. Looking forward to seeing you there, and don’t forget to invite a friend! :

Registration: Take Action Together: Community Connections

This new survey is part of an international effort to capture the voices of early childhood educators and child care workers/providers and better understand how Covid has impacted their well-being. It presents a unique opportunity for your experiences to contribute to advancing the well-being of the workforce in Canada, and internationally. 

In Canada, the data will be used by researcher Dr Brooke Richardson (Brock University), in collaboration with the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, to inform community-based projects, presentations and ongoing work asserting the value of the profession and advocating for decent working conditions and professional wages. Data from this study will also be used to inform a larger national study of educator well-being in Australia, and possibly in comparisons with data from larger studies. In addition, data from the project may be reported in journal articles and/or other presentations.  

Please note, this survey takes 35-40 minutes to complete and must be completed in one sitting. 

The Early Childhood Educators’ Well-being Survey can be found here: https://www.research.net/r/ECEC_Canada

Link to post-survey reflection form

We hosted a webinar about this international research project, why your participation is so important, and how your experiences will influence our advocacy and work:

       Link to Webinar Recording