With our best future in mind: Implementing early learning in Ontario

pdf Published 2009

Report to Ontario Government, 2009

Dr. Charles Pascal, the Premier’s Special Advisor on Early Learning, created a blueprint for all-day early learning and family support. The province subsequently implemented full-day kindergarten.

The report is far more than a plan for all-day kindergarten. It is a plan for a seamless and integrated system to support children from birth to age 12 and their families, with specific recommendations for how to organize, manage and deliver services for children, including full-day early learning, integrated before- and after-school programs and child and family centres. The main areas are:

  • full-day kindergarten available for all four- and five-year-olds;
  • seamless day: full-day, full-year programs for four- and five-year-olds offered by boards of education for a fee;
  • before- and after-school programs for 7- to 12-year-olds available for a fee in schools on the request of a group of parents; and,
  • a network of municipally run child and family centres or hubs with a full range of services for very young children, including childcare; pre- and post-natal care; family support programming (home visiting, family literacy, and playgroups); early identification and intervention resources; and links to special needs treatment and community resources.