Welcome to Network’s celebratory 30th year in providing licensed, early years and child care services to families with young children in Toronto.

Thirty years ago, this past September, Network launched the beginning of what has become a child care organization which has provided dedicated, licensed and exceptional care, to thousands of children and families throughout Toronto.

We are extremely proud to report that with our measured growth and stability coupled with integrity and success, we have continued to meet the challenges and restrictions of this past year. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about the need for everyone to be resilient and resourceful as we pivoted, became “virtual” and “met” each other in both new and unique ways. Personal protective equipment and physical distancing remain as part of the aftershock of this virus to which numerous loved ones were lost, including those among us at Network. All the while, Network has remained true to our values that every child is a unique individual and deserves the best child care program possible despite these incredible impediments and restrictions. There is no doubt that Network’s continued success would not have been achieved without the dedicated and tireless efforts of Network’s talented Educators, Staff and affiliated Home Child Care Providers.

As we look back to Network’s 2020 calendar year, which is a reflection of this Annual Report, a global pandemic was declared, and the World required a restructuring of how to move forward through this elusive and incredibly difficult challenge. Schools and child care sites were closed while we considered how as a society we would educate and support our children while remaining fearful of what the future months would bring. Slowly, the movement of everything to being “online” took hold, and Network too responded with instrumental creativity to keep everyone safe. Virtual learning, through every type of electronic device, became the realm of education and care, delivered in a positive and safe manner, to children throughout our Organization. Network’s website and online portals brought hours of content which would delight, educate, and keep children happy while we waited out the many months of uncertainty. As Spring 2020 turned to Summer 2020, the Ontario Government provided direction for licensed child care programs to begin reopening with stringent restrictions which Network met at every juncture. Gradually as the year came to a close, Network had welcomed many children and families back to “in person” care as the need for children to learn and grow in their newly defined “cohorts” became our new-normal in delivering child care. Network’s resilient and exceptionally resourceful Staff and affiliated Home Child Care Providers met these challenges with pride and determination ensuring they could provide high-quality care as safely as possible.

Network’s resiliency was also positively challenged during the year 2020, as Network invested in a number of capital projects to greatly improve the delivery of child care to several of its sites. Work began at Network’s Group, Just Kids and Jubilee Child Care Centres which received funding from the City of Toronto Children’s Services, to create Infant Care settings within these Centres. The Centres themselves also received necessary upgrades which successfully enhanced the child care environment for all children at these sites. Network also began the relocation of its Home Child Care Program Office, to be housed in the same building as Network’s Satellite Child Care Centre. This space offered the Staff a new venue from which to continue to support Network’s affiliated Home Child Care Providers. Finally, work also began at Network’s main office which had required many necessary renovations for many years. While many of Network’s Staff safely continued to work remotely during 2020, the main office space received an environmental overhaul which continued into the New Year.

As we plan for Network’s future growth in this new decade, we would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the ongoing assistance and support and express our deepest gratitude to the Ministry of Education, the City of Toronto Children’s Services, and the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Certainly, without the necessary funding which Network received from the City of Toronto Children’s Services, the capital projects, which were mentioned earlier, would not have been possible.

We would also like to extend our most sincere thanks and appreciation to all parents and families who have trusted Network to care for their children, particularly during the most difficult pandemic which the World has experienced in a century. Their confidence in our programs and in our Educators has been both impactful and crucial to Network’s success as we navigated the year through 2020 into 2021.

Lastly, a very warm and heartfelt thank you to Network’s Board of Directors and Advisors for their thoughtful insight and committed leadership as well as all the individuals and community partners who have contributed to Network’s advancement over the past year! As our Organization reflects on this past year, we at Network remain steadfastly committed to delivering safe child care of the highest possible calibre throughout all our programs. Network was founded on strong principles, and we are proud to uphold those principles with excellence, responsibility, resiliency, and integrity.