20th Annual Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development
Shaping the ECE Workforce for Canada’s Future
The Summer Institute is an annual collaboration between the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College and the Atkinson Centre for Society and Child Development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto. The Institute strives to offer timely information to inform early childhood research, policy, and practice.
This year, the 20th Summer Institute examined how children’s early learning environments are improved by addressing the working conditions of educators. Researchers and practitioners from multiple disciplines explored strategies including public policy development, workplace accords, sector standards, and unionization as routes to stabilize and grow the workforce.
We heard from those putting innovative approaches into action to grow the ranks of people enjoying a satisfying career as an early childhood educator.
Welcoming Remarks from Mayor Olivia Chow
Mayor Olivia Chow joined the Summer Institute to welcome participants. Mayor Chow gained national recognition for her innovative approaches to programs for children and youth as Toronto’s first Children and Youth Advocate. First elected to Parliament in 2006, her advocacy work on child care supported the foundation for a national early learning program.
Olivia Chow
Mayor, City of Toronto
Olivia Chow has served the people of Toronto for over three decades. Born in Hong Kong in 1957, she immigrated to Toronto with her parents at the age of 13. An apartment in the St. James Town neighbourhood was the launchpad for her remarkable personal journey as a community organizer, activist, school board trustee, Metro Toronto Councillor, Member of Parliament, and now the first person of Asian descent to serve as Mayor of Toronto, and the first woman to serve as Mayor since the six municipalities of Metro Toronto were amalgamated.
As our new Mayor she is working hard to build a City that holds the same kind of hope and promise that it did when she first arrived here – a City that is more affordable, caring and where
everyone belongs.
Panel One: The Early Childhood Education Report: An In-depth Review of Early Education and Child Care Across Canada
Halfway through CWELCC: How are we doing?
Established in 2011, the Early Childhood Education Report is released every three years to evaluate provincial/territorial early years services. Results are populated from detailed profiles of each province and territory. The ECER is organized around 5 categories with 21 benchmarks forming a common set of minimum criteria contributing to the delivery of quality programming. This report captures changes to early years services from March 2020 to March 2023. As such, it assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreements at their halfway point.
Emis Akbari
Professor and Program Coordinator, School of Early Childhood, George Brown College | Senior Policy Fellow, Atkinson Centre, OISE/University of Toronto
Dr. Akbari’s initial research examined issues surrounding early life adversity on brain and behavioural development in animal models. Her current research evaluates changes in policy related to early childhood development and education at all levels of government. Dr. Akbari is the co-author of the Early Childhood Education Report. This report provides a snapshot of federal/provincial/territorial early education provisions. It also compares Canada to other developed economies. She is a member of the scientific advisory committee for the Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development. Dr. Akbari is a professor and program coordinator at the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College. She completed her Ph.D. in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto in developmental behavioural neuroendocrinology.
Shelly Mehta
Professor and Program Coordinator, School of Early Childhood, George Brown College
Dr. Shelly Mehta is professor and coordinator in the School of Early Childhood at George Brown College. She is a certified primary/junior teacher (OCT) with additional qualifications in special education and primary education, and a registered early childhood educator (RECE) in Ontario. Dr. Mehta is co-author on the 2023 ECE Report and is a member of the WAGE Anti-racism project. Her research interests are grounded in liberation-focused approaches, and include amplifying and empowering children and family voices in early years spaces and student voices in higher education settings.
Kerry McCuaig
Senior Policy Fellow, OISE/Atkinson Centre, University of Toronto
Kerry McCuaig co-developed and produces the Early Childhood Education Report, which tracks provincial/territorial progress in early years program development. She co-authored Early Years Study 3, Making Decisions, Taking Action with Margaret McCain and the late Fraser Mustard. Kerry has had a long involvement in early childhood policy including as a founder of Toronto First Duty, a pioneer in the integrated delivery of early childhood programming. She supported similar integrated ECE service models in Atlantic Canada. She has authored several publications, including those commissioned by the Senate of Canada, the Toronto Board of Trade, and the governments of Manitoba, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Ontario and the City of Toronto as well as reports for labour, women’s and community organizations. Kerry is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences.
Panel Two: Strategic Workforce Development in ELCC
ECE Workforce Rights focuses on policy solutions to stabilize and expand the ECE workforce. The project builds on a collaborative partnership among educators, labour and advocacy organizations, and government partners to broaden support for the early childhood workforce.
Transforming the early learning and child care sector requires identifying the challenges facing the workforce and responding with solutions. Expert panelists identified the policy mechanisms that are showing success, and shared new strategies to support a professional early childhood workforce for Canada’s children.
Elizabeth Dhuey
Associate Professor, University of Toronto and Co-Director, Future Skills Lab
Elizabeth Dhuey is an associate professor of economics at the University of Toronto. Her primary appointment is at the Department of Management at the University of Toronto, Scarborough and holds her graduate appointments at OISE in the Department of Leadership, Higher, and Adult Education and the Rotman School of Management. She received her B.A. (1999) in economics and sociology from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2007) in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Elizabeth’s research focuses on the economics of education. In particular, she focuses on three main areas: the early years of children’s development, special education financing, and education and training for the future world of work. Her research has been published in top economics and education journals and has also been widely cited by the popular press, and has appeared on 60 Minutes.
Vicky Smallman
National Director, Human Rights Canadian Labour Congress
Vicky Smallman is the National Director of the Human Rights Department for the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). A long-time activist on gender equality and human rights issues, Vicky spent more than a decade in the academic labour movement, working primarily with contract academic staff, before joining the CLC in 2010. She leads a team responsible for the labour movement’s policy, advocacy and campaign work on women’s and human rights, anti-racism, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, Indigenous and disability justice. Vicky has served on the boards of directors of a number of national and Ottawa organizations, including Equal Voice, Child Care Now, and the Somerset West Community Health Centre. She is a Community Research Associate at Western University’s Centre for Research and Education on Violence against Women and Children. She has researched and written about academic labour issues, activism and women in Canadian politics.
Jan Borowy
Pay Equity Administrator, United Steelworkers Canadian National Office
Jan Borowy is a lawyer and the Pay Equity Administrator at United Steelworkers, Canadian National office, where she leads the implementation of the new proactive federal Pay Equity Act. She is a former partner at Cavalluzzo LLP where her practice areas include union-side labour relations, pay equity, and human rights. Jan has litigated significant pay equity cases before the Human Rights Tribunal, the Pay Equity Tribunal, the Divisional Court, Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada in many significant pay equity . She was counsel on the very important ONA/SEIU v Participating Nursing Homes case which ensured women working in female-dominated workplace have access to pay equity maintenance. Jan is co-chair of the Ontario Equal Pay Coalition. Jan holds an M.A. in Canadian Politics from York University and an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School.
- Access Jan Borowy's Presentation (PDF)
A Conversation with Minister Sudds
Minister Sudds provided an update on the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care System. She welcomed the opportunity to participate in a discussion on how to work with provinces and territories to support the stabilization and growth of the Early Learning and Child Care Sector.
The Honourable Jenna Sudds
Minister of Families, Children and Social Development of Canada
The Honourable Jenna Sudds was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Kanata—Carleton in 2021. She has previously served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth. Minister Sudds has worked as an economist, a municipal councillor, and a community advocate.
From 2018 to 2021, Minister Sudds served on the Ottawa City Council. As city councillor, she worked to protect green spaces, improve local infrastructure and transit, and support the community’s economic recovery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Minister Sudds has been an active member of her community for many years, volunteering with the Kanata Food Cupboard and Ottawa Network for Education. She received a 40 under 40 Award from the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce in 2015, and was named one of Development Counsellors International’s Top 40 under 40 working in economic development in 2017.
Minister Sudds holds a Bachelor in Economics from Brock University and a Master of Arts in Economics from Carleton University. She is a long-time resident of Ottawa, where she lives with her husband and their three daughters.
ECE Workforce Breakout Sessions
The ECE Workforce Rights Breakout sessions will focus on generating innovative ideas on how to expand and sustain a qualified workforce. Participants' contributions will be translated into policy recommendations.
Emerging Themes
Emerging themes from the sessions will be identified and presented.
Participants will identify common threads of strategies to support the ECE workforce advocacy.
ECE Award of Excellence
Diane Daley
CEO, Family Day Care Services, RECE, BA
Diane Daley is the CEO of Family Day Care Services, one of the GTA’s largest and oldest not-for-profit, multi-site, multi-service, early learning child care and family support agencies. Annually, the agency serves the needs of thousands of children and families across the Regional Municipalities of Peel, Metropolitan Toronto, and York, offering a range of high-quality programs.
Diane has worked progressively in the sector at all levels for more than 25 years, and has an extensive repertoire of experience. She is passionate about access, equity, and social inclusion. She advocates to promote inclusive, high-quality early learning and child care, and believes that families and communities thrive when their perspectives are included.
Diane is a registered Early Childhood Educator with a BA in sociology, gender, and family studies, and an undergraduate certificate in women’s studies.
The Annual Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development is presented by:
