Child Care Archives

Strengthening the Early Years Workforce in Windsor-Essex: A Multi-Pronged Approach to Recruitment and Retention

by Tricia Brisebois | July 2025

OMSSA is featuring several 2024 Local Municipal Champion award recipients and their work in the Knowledge Exchange Blog. Please read this entry from the City of Windsor.

Across Ontario, the recruitment and retention of high-quality professionals in the child care and early years sector has become a challenge. Since 2022, the province has taken important steps to address this issue by funding locally developed community initiatives aimed at sustaining the current workforce, improving access to professional development, and attracting new recruits to the field. In Windsor-Essex, we embraced this opportunity by implementing a comprehensive, community-driven strategy designed to achieve long-term impact and meet the evolving needs of our region.

An Interview with Janine Mitchell

by Rob Kirsic | December 2024

Janine Mitchell has worked in the human services sector for her entire 40 year career, starting off working in licensed child care and eventually making her way to a municipality managing Children’s Services, the delivery of Ontario Works Program and Social Services Emergency Management.

She is also one of the recipients of the 2024 OMSSA Champion of Human Services Award. OMSSA sat down with Janine Mitchell for an interview to discuss her work and career and thoughts on human services in Ontario.

Achieving Equitable Child Care for Urban Indigenous Families in Collaboration with CMSMs and DSSABs

by The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) | September 2024

The Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) represents 31 member Friendship Centres, who have identified that Indigenous-led early learning and child care (IELCC) is a top priority, central to fostering strong, vibrant and prosperous Indigenous children, families and communities. This work is critical to transforming and advancing Ontario’s child care system towards an Indigenous-led model that can support high-quality urban Indigenous early learning and child care programs and services. The OFIFC continues to assert that supporting the right of urban Indigenous communities to self-determination is an action-oriented reconciliation commitment that Service System Managers can advance in collaboration with the OFIFC. Learn more about the work OFIFC is undertaking to move this work forward.

Highlights of the 2024 Exchange Conference

by Nalisha Sankreacha | August 2024

Over 400 people from the human services, health, child care, and public services participated in OMSSA’s in-person Exchange Conference held on May 7 and 8 in Mississauga. Over these two days there was an opportunity to focus on several important professional development topics, enhance skill sets, and showcase the innovative work happening in each of our sectors to address the most pressing issues in our local communities. Read more about the highlights of our most recent Conference.

OMSSA Report on the 2024 Ontario Budget

by Darryl Wolk | April 2024

On March 27, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, Peter Bethlenfalvy, delivered the 2024 Ontario Budget titled Building a Better Ontario.

Learn more about some of the highlights relevant to OMSSA Members and the municipal human services sector.

OMSSA Report on the 2024 Federal Budget

by Darryl Wolk | April 2024

On April 16, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the 2024 Federal Budget. The budget focused on three themes: Solving the Housing Crisis, Fairness for Younger Generations, and Economic Growth and Productivity. Learn more about some of the highlights relevant to OMSSA Members and the human services sectors.

Highlights from OMSSA’s 2023 Policy Conference

by Tod Duncan, Nalisha Sankreacha | February 2024

OMSSA’s 2023 Policy Conference successfully took place on November 30 and December 1. This year’s conference, once again, contained a mix of sessions. There were several plenary sessions designed to be of interest to all OMSSA Members, as well as a comprehensive slate of sector-specific break-out sessions.

We’ve learned that there continue to be profound challenges to the social services sector. But knowing the energy and enthusiasm through which OMSSA Members approach their work, it’s assured that throughout 2024 we will hear stories of amazing successes that have been achieved.

Global Events Have Local Impacts

by Sandra Lee | February 2024

OMSSA is featuring several 2023 Local Municipal Champion award recipients and their work in the Knowledge Exchange Blog. Please read this entry from the County of Simcoe below.

Working in community-based planning is rewarding. It is gratifying to foster partnerships that create local solutions for people arriving in Simcoe County. Community stakeholders did not disappoint, working collaboratively to help Ukrainians find a temporary new place to call home.

In May 2022, the Simcoe County Local Immigration Partnership (LIP) hosted two online community information sessions to coordinate local system planning, identify gaps, and brainstorm potential solutions. Securing temporary and permanent housing, transportation, and childcare were some of Ukrainian’s greatest challenges. The Simcoe County LIP engaged in solution-focused planning with local systems to bridge gaps.

Urban Indigenous Children Deserve Equal Access to Child Care

by Suze Morrison | August 2023

Indigenous children thrive when they are proud of who they are and have access to their culture. But Indigenous children living in cities don’t currently have equal access to child care that meets those important cultural needs. Of the approximately 473,000 child care spaces currently in Ontario, 12,000 of those would need to be dedicated to urban Indigenous children to equitably match the population need. Currently, only about 2,000 spaces are in urban Indigenous child care sites – representing a staggering shortfall of nearly 10,000 spaces. With unprecedented federal investments being made through the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) funding, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to right these inequities and invest in Indigenous children. Suze Morrison, Chief Engagement Officer for the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres (OFIFC) explains how OMSSA Members can assist.

Building Partnerships and Innovative Programs to Expand EarlyON Child and Family Programs

by Kathy Lucky | August 2023

Before the pandemic, York Region organized a “Think Tank session” with EarlyON agencies to evaluate current outdoor programming. They also recognized that their EarlyON educators, who were trained in Early Childhood Education (ECE), often did not have outdoor education or Indigenous cultural training to make the necessary changes to the curriculum development for outdoor program delivery. To address these concerns, the Region sought the advice of outdoor education and Indigenous worldview experts to help develop a new four-season outdoor program. Then, they partnered with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to support training and curriculum development, leading to the creation of the Walking Together Through the Four Seasons collaborative initiative. Kathy Lucky, the Manager of EarlyON Programs with York Region, explains how this program was developed to benefit the community.

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