Work. Family. Life.

What are the issues that bring people to this blog? Many!

Below is a list of the key words that people have searched for in recent weeks and months to arrive at this blog.  These are not listed in order of relevance, rather I have placed them in alphabetical order so as to see similar items grouped together where possible.  It is interesting to see the range of items that attract people to this site.

"Early Childhood Educators Loan Assistance Program "
"early intervention" speech
"Kellie Leitch" Globe and Mail
"Mary Polak"
"patti bacchus, chair"
"sadaf parvaiz"
"Victoria Sopik"
(http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ewh-semt/pubs/occup-travail/balancing_six-equilibre_six/index-eng.php
(vancouver) secure status
+kindergarten +ontario +"full day" +ece
$10 billion in education grants
20
2009 call for proposals in Canada
2009 evaluation of parental leave
2009 statistics stay at home moms
2010 all day kindergarten ontario
2010 full day kindergarten bc
2010 new members list contact of Abbotsford Farm and Country Market @hotmail.com
2010 ontario full time program kindergarten
2010 parental leave extended in canada
2010-2011 kindergarten program full days ontario
3185 Willingdon Green Burnaby, BC
4 year olds in school by 2010 (BC)
5 years old kindergarten will begin to be delivered in schools throughout British Columbia in Sept,
a healthy work environment
accessing early maternity leave benefits in bc
According to the recent HELP (UBC) report commissioned by the Business Council of BC, "BC has a six
actionplan.gc.ca
advantages of New Brunswick’s New Brunswick’s International Strategy
Alberta bc requirements for working at child care services
alberta child care certification for foreign trained people
alberta child care regulations
Alberta licensed day care balance sheet
all day kindergarten + bc
all day kindergarten 2010
all day kindergarten 2010 in BC
all day kindergarten bc
all day kindergarten bc october 28 2009
all day kindergarten ontario
all day kindergarten ontario oct 2009
all day kindergqrten bc 2010

Canadian professional development opportunities in early learning and care

Below is a list of sites that outline upcoming professional development opportunities for the early learning and care field.  This posting is a work in progress; with more info being added over the next few weeks and months.  If you know of additional training opportunities please leave a comment and link.

British Columbia

BC Aboriginal Child Care Society - Annual Conference Page

BC Family Child Care Association - Events Page

Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre - Training Page

Child Care Options - Training Page

ECEBC - Conference 2010 Page

HELP - Human Early Learning Partnership - Events Page

Alberta

Alberta Child Care Association - Events Page

Manitoba

Manitoba Child Care Association - Events Page and Fall Workshop Page

New Brunswick

Early Childhood Care and Education - Training Page

PEI

Early Childhood Development Association of PEI - Events Page

National

Child Care Resource and Research Unit - Events Page

Canadian Child Care Federation - Events Page

Video of new family friendly headquarters - Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers

From Vancouver Sun article

Ritchie Bros. auctioneers move into spacious new home - which includes workplace child care program

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc.’s first Lower Mainland headquarters was a house on Bridgeport Road in Richmond — homey, but it would be a bit cramped for today’s home-base operation of 312 employees overseeing the operations of 39 auction sites around the world.

In fact, the company has twice outgrown Richmond locations, which eventually sprawled to three corners of the municipality.

To that end, the company has just moved into an expansive, 160,000-square-foot global headquarters replete with fitness centre, cafeteria and in-house daycare centre more fitting for the world’s largest industrial auctioneer.

The gleaming glass and steel structure is still on the banks of the Fraser River, but upstream in Burnaby in the Glenlyon business park — at the bucolic end, bordered by trees and riverside park trails. It is officially opening this Thursday.

“We just want to make a nice place for people to come to work and enjoy their time here, and maintain the culture that we have at Ritchie Bros.,” president Rob MacKay said in an interview, adding that he hopes the company will be in the new location for a long time.

via www.vancouversun.com

I have previously written about the Ritchie Bros.child care program here and here.  We are continuing to recruit staff to work in the program.  For further information on careers with RBA click here.

Looking for great ECE's for new workplace child care program

As some of my readers are aware, I have been consulting on the development of a wonderful new workplace child care program for Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (RBA) in Burnaby, BC.  Below are a few pictures of the new RBA headquarters, which has been under construction for the last year or so, and is scheduled to have employees begin moving in next month.

I am happy to report that things have been moving along very nicely and this new child care program, which will accommodate infants, toddlers and preschool age children, will be opening in the Fall 2009.  The child care centre has been designed to serve RBA employees and their children and will offer exceptional quality child care programming that incorporates the best aspects of multiple early learning philosophies.

The Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Child Care Program will be responsive to the individual needs of the children and families that it serves.  Qualified, experienced Early Childhood Education and Infant-Toddler trained staff will ensure that the physical, emotional and social development of each child is supported through the provision of an environment that truly respects the needs of young children.

Program goals include (but are not limited to) the following:

• To provide very high quality early learning and child care experiences for all children and families who enroll.
• To create a safe, warm, inviting and nurturing environment where young children can develop, grow and learn in a way that best supports their individual needs.
• To provide a program that supports the ongoing professional development of all staff that work in the program.

Currently RBA are recruiting Early Childhood Educators, Infant-Toddler Educators and ECE Assistants for this new child care program.  If you are a BC or Alberta qualifed Early Childhood Educator I encourage you to submit your resume for consideration via the RBA Careers webpage.  Please share this information with your colleagues or anyone who you think might be well suited for a position in this new program.

Established in 1958, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers (NYSE and TSX: RBA) is the world’s largest industrial auctioneer, selling more equipment to on-site and online bidders than any other company in the world. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Ritchie Bros. has more than 110 locations worldwide, including 39 auction sites. Ritchie Bros. conducts hundreds of unreserved public auctions every year, selling a broad range of used and unused equipment for the construction, transportation, agricultural, material handling, mining, forestry, petroleum and marine industries.

Ritchie Bros. offers an excellent total compensation package including health and dental benefits, education allowance, Group RRSP and Employee Share Purchase Plan with company matching. 

Vancouver reviews child care agenda

The following Motion was passed on April 7. 2009 at a regular City of Vancouver Council meeting.

MOTION ON NOTICE
1. Renewing the Childcare Agenda
At the Regular Council meeting on March 24, 2009, Councillor Louie submitted the
following motion. Councillor Anton called Notice under Section 10.3(d) of the
Procedure By-law.
MOVER: Councillor Raymond Louie
SECONDER: Mayor Gregor Robertson
WHEREAS accessible, affordable and quality childcare is essential to the health
and well-being of the city of Vancouver’s children and families;
AND WHEREAS child development and childcare play a crucial role in the
economic stability of our city;
AND WHEREAS it is critical that all levels of government, including those at the
local level, and the private sector take an active partnership in ensuring
successful child development opportunities;
AND WHEREAS the current Early Childhood Development Memorandum of
Understanding lays out a framework for collaboration between the many
partners in child development that supports coordinated actions on specific
policy such as a joint council on childcare;
AND WHEREAS the establishment of a joint council and protocol on childcare
between the Council, School Board and Park Board let to the creation of more
than 600 new childcare spaces between 2002 and 2005, exceeding the original
goal of a 5% increase;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED
THAT Council direct staff to reinstate the Joint Council on Childcare and renew
its goals, and previously adopted Terms of Reference, along with an objective
of a further 5% increase, at a minimum, in childcare spaces in the next three
years;
FURTHER THAT Council direct staff to undertake a supply and demand review
of infant, toddler, 3-5 year old and out of school care spaces, and disaggregate
the data by neighbourhood; and
FURTHER THAT costs and revenue sources for implementing a universal
approach to a sustainable Childcare Endowment Reserve be confirmed,
including the development of eligibility criteria, consultation with stakeholders
and identifying alternative mechanisms to enhance this Fund.
notice
* * * * *

Video of the debate on this Motion can be found HERE.