Latest News & Stories

Excerpt: "New reports on developmental inclusion practices and supports within Northwest Territories (NWT) early learning and child care settings are now available. Between June 2023 and July 2024, a third party was contracted to review current inclusion-related educational practices and supports available within licensed early learning and child care programs in the NWT. This review was informed through engagement and interviews with partners, including early childhood educators and identified organizations who provide inclusion supports to early learning and child care programs. The results of this engagement are included in the Review of Inclusive Education Practices in Early Learning and Child Care settings in the Northwest Territories – What We Heard. The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) also published a response to the findings of the What We Heard Report."

Registration is now opened for our Crafting Connections: Painting Tote Bags event, happening March 27th!

Nominations for OISE Graduate Student Association (GSA) 2025-26 elections are now open, and we hope to see you run!

Excerpt: "The National School Food Program is a safety net for the kids who need this support the most. Kids in the North, most of whom are Indigenous, face very particular challenges and high food insecurity, and this will help level the playing field and give every child the chance to reach their full potential. As part of this agreement, the Government of Canada will invest approximately $7.6 million over the next three years. This investment will mean necessary upgrades to kitchen facilities, hiring staff, more nutritious meals, and access to traditional foods, such as lingonberries, cloudberries, caribou, salmon, cod – foods that nourish children while keeping cultural connections strong."

Excerpt: "Since 2019 the department has made progress on several initiatives to address systemic inequities and achieve better student outcomes. Here are some of the highlights: Launching the Universal Early Learning and Child Care model and continuing to invest in high quality, accessible and affordable early learning programs for Yukon
children. This supports positive outcomes for children and helps to close gaps in student achievement; Further enhancing early learning through the provision of kindergarten and full-day kindergarten in rural communities to provide children with opportunities to engage in developmentally appropriate, play-based curriculum for longer periods (over two years), which fosters deeper understanding and development of solid foundational skills as they enter grade one; The department has continued to work with the First Nation School Board and the Chiefs Committee on Education to support the successes of the First Nation School Board, which operates eleven Yukon schools and develops and implements Indigenous language and culture education programs and programs designed to improve student outcomes within the education system; At the same time, the department has continued to work directly with Yukon First Nation governments to address joint education priorities through several collaborative initiatives inclusive of work on the Collaboration Framework and the next Joint Education Action Plan; The department has also continued work to advance the Review of Inclusive and Special Education (RISE) and to advance the RISE workplan which was co-developed with Yukon First Nations Education Commissioners and Advisory Committee for Yukon Education."

Excerpt: "Today, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, the Honourable Jenna Sudds, joined Nunavut Premier the Honourable P.J. Akeeagok, and Nunavut’s Minister of Education the Honourable Pamela Hakongak Gross to celebrate the official opening of the new location and expansion of Tumikuluit Saipaaqivik, Iqaluit’s only Inuktitut daycare. This project received $1.8 million in federal funding through the Canada-Nunavut Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement. For 18 years, Tumikuluit Saipaaqivik has offered culture-based early learning and child care in Inuktitut, fostering a strong connection to Inuit culture and language. This new centre allows Tumikuluit Saipaaqivik to open 16 new early learning and child care spaces in their program."

APHD Celebrates Black Futures

Excerpt: "The Province of British Columbia’s 2018 ChildCareBC plan included a commitment to add capacity in regional health authorities to license, monitor, and investigate child care facilities. Child care facility licensing is the responsibility of the Ministry of Health and the five regional health authorities. But the Ministry of Education and Child Care has overall responsibility for putting the ChildCareBC plan into place. So close coordination is required. We did two audits related to ChildCareBC’s commitment to increase health authority capacity for child care licensing."

e-News

Excerpt: "Albertans deserve world-class education for their families now and in the future. Budget 2025 provides an operating expense budget of $9.9 billion in 2025-26, a 4.5% increase from the 2024-25 third quarter forecast; $54 million in 2025-26, along with $348 million more over the following 2 years will support additional enrolment growth; An increase of $55 million in 2025-26, and another $94 million in each of the following 2 years, to adjust the funding formula for school authorities to provide increased sustainable funding for growth within the funding model; Almost $1.1 billion in total over the next 3 years to address growth and hire more than 4,000 new teachers and classroom support staff; More than $1.6 billion in 2025-26 will support students with specialized learning needs or groups of students who need additional help; An investment of $55 million in 2025-26, a 20% increase from last year, to allow school authorities to add staff and supports to complex classrooms so students receive the focus and attention they need; $389 million over 3 years will provide increases to funding rates to cover the rising costs of maintaining educational facilities, unavoidable expenses like insurance and utilities, and providing programs and services to students; $2.6 billion over 3 years for educational (K-12) infrastructure, an increase of $505 million or 23.9% from Budget 2024. This funding will support the construction of more than 200,000 new and modernized student spaces over the next 7 years (almost 90,000 within the next 4 years)."

Delivering early childhood education (ECE) through public schools has garnered increasing attention due to its potential to address systemic challenges within the early education workforce. These series of papers explore the benefits of integrating early childhood programs into public school systems, focusing on how this approach improves workforce conditions, enhances professionalism, increases professional learning opportunities, and promotes equity across the sector.

To understand the role of preschool in public education, we must examine its impact on children's academic, social, and emotional development. Preschool also supports working parents, improves access to quality early learning, ensures continuity in education, and helps reduce social inequities.