50 years of early years and child care at Peel
Tammy Birdgeneau and Johanna Irvine discovered Peel Region’s Early Years and Child Care Services (EYCCS) as students. Little did they know their placements at Peel would lead to lifelong careers.
Tammy worked at Peel while studying at Sheridan College. She graduated in 1985 and got a job at a private child care centre. Two years later, in 1987, she ran into her former supervisor from Peel at a concert, who encouraged her to apply for a role at Peel Region. Tammy applied, and "the rest is history."
Johanna worked at a Peel Learn.Play.Care centre while attending Toronto Metropolitan University (then Ryerson University). She joined Peel after she graduated in 1997 as a casual staff member, before landing a permanent role.
As Peel Region celebrates its 50th anniversary, Tammy and Johanna – who have been with Peel for 37 and 25 years respectively – have seen many changes over the years.
Delivering high-quality child care
When Peel Region was founded in 1974, it delivered child care directly through its Regional Child Development centres (later renamed Learn.Play.Care centres). Over time it also developed agreements with some private child care centres. Johanna and Tammy worked at the Peel-run centres before moving into administrative roles. Tammy is currently a Children’s Services Worker on the Child Care Subsidy team, and Johanna is an Early Years Specialist on the System Quality and Partnerships team.
"They were a model of what an ideal child care program should be," Johanna recalls. "It was great to have a part in that. I was always very proud to work for those programs. My daughter attended one of them, so that speaks volumes as a parent if you’re happy to put your child there."
In 2014, Peel Region stepped away from directly delivering child care, and transitioned the operation of these centres to community partners, to focus on its role as service system manager. While Johanna admits it was an adjustment, she says it was a chance to empower Peel's community partners and service providers. "There have been so many changes in the sector, and within the roles that I've played. Moving from directly delivering child care services and special needs re-sourcing services to a more service system manager approach was a big shift," she says. "There was definitely some learning, but it is great to be able to support from the accountability and quality lens, and the funding perspective, to support providers to deliver services that are more accessible broadly to families in Peel."
Access to affordable, high-quality child care
As Peel's population grew and became more diverse over the years, EYCCS continued to evolve to meet the community's changing needs. In 1998, Peel provided child care subsidies to about 2,000 families; today almost 7,000 families receive help from the subsidy program! "Our goal has always been to make services more accessible. Peel itself has grown and evolved significantly, and I think as a service system manager we've always had a focus of trying to meet the needs of an ever-evolving system," says Johanna.
Tammy says families have more child care options now. "Before, there weren’t that many daycare centres - so if you were a new resident, sometimes depending on what area you lived in you could have encountered lots of wait lists," she says. "Now there are more choices, and there are a lot more options and most people have choices in their neighborhood - they don't have to drive that far, so in those terms it's more accessible."
The Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program, launched in 2022, has created even more changes. "The volume of providers has grown, especially with CWELCC there's been such a big growth in that area," Tammy says. "I think back to when I first started, the Region of Peel had about 12-to-15-daycare centres and some private daycare centres that we had agreements with, but now the volume is mind-blowing, the growth is incredible."
Over the next 50 years, Tammy says she would like to see even more growth. "When I look back at how far we've come, I can't imagine how much more growth there’s going to be in the future," Tammy says.
"Children and family needs have become more complex, there are more things to consider, a lot of diversity … so I'd love to see that ability to continue to evolve and change to meet the needs of the community," adds Johanna.
Loving what they do
Johanna chose an early years and child care career after seeing her mother work in the sector. "Growing up I saw how much fun and how rewarding it was, so I knew I would do something in the child care sector," she says. "It’s really rewarding to work with children, to see the development of children over the years. Knowing that the activities we plan, the interactions, the attachment and all those things are so fundamental to the foundation of their learning journey through to adults."
She credits supportive teams, a variety of opportunities, and being able to make an impact for keeping her at Peel for 25 years. "I’ve been blessed to work with so many great teams over the years, people that I've worked with for the full 25 years and experienced a lot of life milestones with," says Johanna. "It’s great to work with people who are so talented and smart and skilled. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to support children and families directly, supporting educators, operators, and the system as a whole, from a policy lens." She adds: "To spend 25 years - my entire professional career, really, with one employer - is not something that's very common. But having the opportunity to work in so many different roles it doesn't feel like I've been in the same place for 25 years."
After 37 years, Tammy says she owes her longevity at Peel to her supportive team and being able to help Peel’s diverse children and families. "I love what I do. I love the interactions and connections I make with the clients on my caseload. I get to offer resources for newcomers that come, just being able to help them transition and acclimatize themselves into the Region of Peel and the community," she says. "If you would’ve told me 37 years ago that I would be with Peel Region for that long, I wouldn't have believed it. I'm grateful that I got to work with a lot of amazing people, and I've made some lifelong friends and some really good connections. It's been a good journey."