Why leaders are excited about Heartwork and so much more!

Heartwork and so much more has come to life because leaders across communities in Ontario believe in the fundamental value that child care and early years offers to children, families and community well-being. This is witnessed in statements from some of our partner community leaders, as they reflect on our professional learning day.

“The ability for communities to offer sustainable quality child care to our families, has become increasingly difficult over the last several years. Staff shortages, Covid fatigue, and the need for fair compensation, have all made recruitment, retention and growth in the child care and in the early years sector extremely challenging. The Ministry’s funding to support a child care and early years workforce strategy has been well-timed. It is responsive to the needs of families and the need to elevate the value of the early years profession. That is our number 1 priority for our first professional learning day, this May 9, 2022. After all, child care is heartwork, and so much more.”
- Kelly Emery, Director, Child Care, Early Years, Recreation Services, Municipality of Chatham Kent

“Registered Early Childhood Educators and early years and child care staff do incredibly important work supporting children at a critical stage in their development. They have worked so hard over these last two years under very challenging circumstances to provide essential child care services to families. We are excited to provide these PD Days for early years and child care staff to support their learning and well-being. We understand that making alternate arrangements for these PD Days may be challenging for families, and we greatly appreciate parents’ understanding and support of educators and their efforts to provide quality programming for their children.”
- Barb Cardow, Director, Children’s Services, Region of Waterloo

"Vibrant communities are built from the kids up. Each time that an Early Learning Professional sparks imagination, teaches compassion, and encourages curiosity they ignite the social, economic and academic potential of our community’s children.

We are delighted to be working with our colleagues across the province to recognize and celebrate the critical role that Early Childhood Educators have in the lives of Ontario children each day."
- Aaron Wallace, Director of Community Programs and Social Development, City of Brantford