By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
Warden Brian Ostrander took a moment out of the May Northumberland County council meeting to acknowledge the Early Years and Ontario Works team for winning the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association’s 2025 Local Municipal Champion Award.
This was in honour of the county’s Early Years Employment Initiative, the warden said, which makes a difference in the community by addressing the pressing challenge of recruiting and retaining child-care staff.
Launched in 2022, this six-week program provides hands-on training and certification that opens the door to employment both inside and outside the EY field, Ostrander explained – “strong foundations for meaningful employment in the long term.
“Fifty per cent of participants have either found employment in the sector or continued post-secondary education,” he added,
“They’re not only opening doors but helping participants walk through with confidence and purpose.”
He turned over the microphone to a woman who had been in the program’s first group of graduates.
“This employment initiative has changed my life,” she stated.
When she began, she was a working mother of four who could not make enough money to get off Ontario Works.
“The EYEI wasn’t like any other course of training I had ever taken before,” she said, noting that her instructors were knowledgeable, experienced and passionate, as well as kind and supportive.
Through the program’s partnerships with Fleming College and YMCA Northumberland, she received accredited training and a meaningful placement.
“I did all this while being paid for the training, with care provided for my own children,” she added.
“This initiative really did give me all the tools I needed to begin a career and take steps in pursuing my post-secondary education. Every person on the team on this journey made a difference for me.”
The results were a full-time job at the Y, being able to get off OW within a year, and further ECE training on-line (from which she graduates with honours later this month).
Along with congratulations, she was presented with flowers from her children and from Early Years Co-ordinator Christine Mumford.
