Tag: Ontario

Vote for Ontario Elections on February 27th!

Vote for the provincial elections in Ontario on election day on February 27 or at any advance voting location on February 21 or 22. Your vote matters and you can influence policies at the provincial level because the provincial government is responsible for the following:

  • Education
  • Colleges and universities
  • Drivers’ licensing and highways
  • Hospitals and healthcare delivery
  • Municipalities
  • Natural resources
  • Property and civil rights
  • Provincial law and courts
  • Provincial taxes
  • Social services

Find your riding: You can find your provincial electoral district by entering your postal code on the search tool on the following page, Electoral Districts.

ID Requirements: ID is required to vote in a provincial election. Photo ID is not required when you go to vote. If you choose to provide photo ID, your appearance does not need to match the photo. You do not need to provide any information about your sex or gender expression when you go to vote.

ID can be shown on a mobile device. International ID or permanent resident cards are not accepted.

If you are on the Register, you will receive a voter information cardOpens in popup modal glossary definition (VIC) in the mail about when and where to vote. Bring your VIC and one piece of ID showing your name to receive a ballotOpens in popup modal glossary definition when you go to vote.

You can still vote if you do not receive a VIC, but your name may not be on the Register. You must bring one piece of ID showing both your name and home address to register and receive a ballot.

Only eligible voters can vote in provincial elections. To be eligible to vote, you must be:

  • 18 years of age or older;
  • a Canadian citizen; and
  • a resident of Ontario.

Use Voter RegistrationOpens in a new tab to confirm, update, add or remove your voter information. Alternatively, you can complete paper application formsOpens in a new tab.

ID includes most documents issued by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario or a municipality in Ontario. Find examples of accepted ID below.

If you have a voter information card, bring one piece of ID with your name on it.

Government-issued

  • Birth certificate
  • Marriage certificate
  • Ontario health card
  • Canadian Armed Forces ID card (NDI 20)
  • Canadian passport
  • Certificate of Canadian Citizenship
  • Certificate of Indian Status (Status card)
  • Certificate of Naturalization (issued before January 1, 1947)
  • Citizenship card
  • Firearms licence
  • Nexus/FAST (Free and Secure Trade) card
  • Old Age Security identification card
  • Social Insurance Number confirmation letter
  • Registration of birth abroad (issued between January 1, 1947 and February 14, 1977)
  • Veteran Affairs Canada Health Care Identification card
  • Veteran’s Service Card (NDI 75)
  • Birth Certificate from a Canadian province or territory

Other

  • Blood donor card
  • Credit/debit card
  • Diplomatic or special passport
  • Employee card
  • Hospital records (including hospital bracelets)
  • Union card or professional licence
  • Student card
  • A document from a Band Council in Ontario established under the Indian Act (Canada) showing a person’s name
  • Any document showing your name issued by:
    • the Government of Canada
    • the Government of Ontario
    • a municipality
    • a government agency

If you don’t have a voter information card, bring one piece of ID with both your name and home address. These include the following:

Government-issued

  • Ontario driver’s licence
  • Ontario motor vehicle permit (plate or vehicle portion)
  • Ontario photo card
  • Property assessment notice from Municipal Property Assessment Corporation
  • Child tax benefit statement
  • Income tax notice of assessment
  • Social Insurance Number confirmation letter
  • Statement of Employment Insurance Benefits Paid T4E
  • Statement of Old Age Security T4A (OAS)
  • Any document showing both your name and home address issued by the Government of Canada/Ontario

Educational or financial

  • School admission letter
  • School transcript or report card
  • Tuition/fees statement
  • Bank account or credit card statement
  • Cancelled personalized cheque
  • Cheque stub, pay receipt or T4 issued by a person’s employer
  • Insurance statement
  • Residential mortgage, lease, or rental statement
  • Signed loan or financial agreement with a financial institution
  • Document showing campus residence issued by the office or officials responsible for student residence at a post-secondary institution 

Other

  • CNIB card or card from another registered charitable organization that provides services to persons with disabilities
  • Hospital records showing a person’s name and home address
  • Letter of Confirmation of Residence
  • Utility bill (hydro, water, gas, telephone, cable TV, public utilities commission)
  • Property tax assessment or bill from a municipality in Ontario
  • Any other document showing both your name and home address issued by:
    • a municipality
    • a government agency
    • or certified by a court in Ontario
    • a Band Council in Ontario established under the Indian Act (Canada)

You can find voting locations by entering your postal code on the search tool on the following webpage, Search – Elections Ontario.

Find out more information in relation to voting by checking the FAQ’s and other resources on the Elections Ontario website here, Frequently asked questions.

ICCRP Research Opportunity for Individuals with Lived Experience in Care

You have been invited to participate in a research study being run by the International and Canadian Child Rights Partnership (ICCRP) if you have lived experience in the child welfare system. The study aims to explore intergenerational relationships, lived experiences of former children and youth who aged out of the Ontario child welfare system, and child welfare policy and practices.

The research question is: “How Do Intergenerational Relationships among People with Lived Experiences in the Ontario Child Welfare System Influence Child Welfare Policies and Practices?”

ICCRP is seeking 50 participants; to participate, you need to be:
● a resident of Canada;
● have lived experiences in the Child Welfare System of Ontario; and
● part of one of these age cohorts
○ 18-29 years of age
○ 30-39 years of age
○ 40-49 years of age
○ 50-59 years of age
○ 60+ years of age.

Participants are still eligible to participate in the research study if they are 18 years or older; and/or if they are still receiving financial support from child protection agencies.

If you do not meet these requirements, but you know someone who may meet these criteria and interested in taking part in this study, please forward this invitation to any potentially interested individual(s).

If you meet these requirements, we invite you to participate in a semi-structured virtual interview that will be no more than 60 minutes long. Your participation will involve:

o communicating with me and other research assistant via email about your availability for the interview;
o disclosing personal information to demonstrate your eligibility (e.g. your age, if you are a resident of Canada or not, lived experience in the Child Welfare system of Ontario); and
o attend a one-hour virtual (audio)/phone interview with me and another research team member and answer the study questions.

If you are interested in volunteering in this study, you will receive another email at least two weeks before the interview date with information about the ICCRP in it, and a consent form that includes brief information about the research study. You will have time to let us know if you have any questions. If you agree to participate by signing and returning the consent form, we will forward the interview questions along with a list of mental health and emotional support resources.

Your participation is completely voluntary. No financial compensation will be provided, but will provide an opportunity to engage in other ICCRP activities if you consent us to contact you in future. Please know that there is no requirement to participate in this study. You may know our lead co-investigator or other research team members due to their extensive experiences in the child welfare system in Ontario. If you choose not to
participate, it will not impact your relationship with either of the primary investigators, Jane Kovarikova or Tara Collins, or other research assistant, or Toronto Metropolitan University.

If you participate, your identity will not be shared with others outside of the research team. You have the right to withdraw voluntarily from participation or parts of participation at any time without providing any reasons.

The research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Ontario Research Fund-Research Excellence (ORF-RE) and has been reviewed and approved by the Toronto Metropolitan University Research Ethics Board Reference ID 2023-057.

If you are interested in more information about the study or would like to volunteer, please email Jessielynncross@torontomu.ca or you can choose to contact Tara Collins by email tara.collins@torontomu.ca or call 416-979-5000, ext. 554563.

Support to Action Webinars: Free and Online

Employment Ontario is offering free online webinars geared towards educational liaisons, case workers, independence workers, child and youth workers, child welfare system staff who support youth, foster parents, adoptive parents, youth in transition workers and community partners who support at risk youth.

You will learn

  • What is the Trades Ready Youth Program by Child welfare PAC
  • What is a trade and what is an apprenticeship
  • What it means to be “Trades Ready”
  • What are the five things that a youth can do to be a trades ready youth?

Presenter experience includes:

  • Retired Director of Service, Child and Family Services
  • Apprenticeship Youth Advisor
  • Education Specialist in Apprenticeship Pathways

Date and Time:

  • September 17 at 3:00 – 4:15 pm
  • September 18 at 7:00 – 8:15 pm

45 minute presentation & 30 min question and answer session.

Register now at Support to Action Webinars | Trades Ready Youth (childwelfarepac.com)

Skilled trades training for individuals from care

Are you over the age of 18 and have lived in systems of care for at least one year? Discover your passion for Ontario’s skilled trades with a free 2-day training.

Time, Date and Venue:

August 13 & 14, 2024
8am – 4pm
Millwrights Local 1916
63 Ditton Drive, Hamilton, ON

Coffee, light snacks, and lunch provided. Hard hat and work boots included.

Register now at: childwelfarepac.com/register

Join OCAC for the 6th Provincial Day of Learning – Youth in Care Day


#LetsCelebrate! Ontario Children’s Advancement Coalition’s SIXTH ANNUAL SIGNATURE Children and Youth in Care Day event is MAY 14, 2024! This annual Provincial Day of Learning is an event that provides us with an opportunity to listen to Experts (both First Voice and Critically Allied).

This year will continue the annual theme, “FIVE14FUTURES: Across Our Lifetime” with a focus on Equitable Standards in Ontario, and across Canada. This annual event is sponsored by the Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada!

As always, this year we have an amazing line up of speaker from the Youth in/from “Care” communities, and allied experts. Two musicians/artists will open and close this anchor event on Ontario’s Youth In Care Day – let’s support Indigenous and lived expert artists!

FAYTH, who is an Indigenous artist from Wiikwemikoong First Nation, is a 2023 recipient of the Neebin’s Music Fund (Neebin’s family, FN Caring Society, and inPath created fund to honour Neebin Armstrong’s memory). Fayth is being sponsored by the First Nations Caring Society of Canada!

ROSE JONES, who is a musician with lived expertise of the child “welfare” system in Ontario, who is currently working on their first full album!! Rose Jones is being sponsored by the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies!

The event will be from 11:45AM-1:45PM, and you can listen in while you have lunch or getting work done. This is a FREE VIRTUAL event streamed LIVE from Facebook. Like and Follow to get notification of the event! Click here: https://lnkd.in/gF7n2XV.

RSVP Link! RSVPs will be private to protect the accounts of people! https://fb.me/e/5WSTKFDR7

This year there will also be an exciting announcement in collaboration with Cindy Blackstock!

Let’s honor, commemorate, and celebrate youth in/from care, across our lifetime! Check out the lineup! Please share! 

Thank You,
Cheyanne Ratnam, BSW;MSW


Applications open for Ontario’s Indigenous Internship Program

The Indigenous Internship Program (IIP) is a paid 12-month program that will provide recent Indigenous post-secondary graduates with an opportunity to gain valuable work experience with the Ontario Public Service (OPS).

Indigenous interns will contribute their knowledge, experiences, values, and perspectives to influence organizational policies, programs, and services.

IIP interns will:

  • receive full-time employment for up to 1 year
  • earn a competitive salary
  • develop their skills and gain valuable work experience
  • receive mentoring, coaching and learning opportunities
  • develop valuable professional contacts

To be eligible, you must:

  • self-identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit)
  • have graduated from a college or university with a diploma, degree or post-graduate certificate within the past five years (that is, May 2019 – August 2024)
  • be legally entitled to work in Canada
  • be a resident of Ontario during the term of employment

OPS offers a wide range of Indigenous internship positions, which may cover the following areas:

  • communications
  • financial management
  • human resources
  • Indigenous relations
  • policy
  • program and service delivery

To apply to the various internship positions, visit the Indigenous Internship job board here: https://www.gojobs.gov.on.ca/Preview.aspx?Language=English&JobID=193787

Recruitment open for YouthCAN Provincial Youth Advisory Committee (YPYAC) at OACAS

The Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) is recruiting youth 13-18 years of age for their YouthCAN Provincial Youth Advisory Committee (YPYAC). The recruitment launched at their February 15th YouthCAN Town Hall and will remain open until March 15th. The application link is enclosed & can also be found here.

The YPYAC is a voluntary committee made up of 12 youth from across Ontario, with 2 youth representing each of the 6 zones (Central, Eastern, Southwest, Grand River, Northern, and Northeast).  

The purpose of the YPYAC is to use their youth voices to make recommendations to the Ontario child welfare sector about:  

  • The development and delivery of provincial programs for youth in and transitioning from the Ontario child welfare system.  
  • Advocacy to improve the experiences of children and youth in and from care.  

The YPYAC will be supported by the Youth Services Analyst and the work of the YouthCAN Champion Network Group and Executive.  

Eligible youth should:  

  • Be primarily between 13-18 years old (with allowance for up to 21 years of age)  
  • Have lived experience in the Ontario child welfare system.  
  • Be interested in volunteering to use their voice to make a difference.  
  • Have good communication skills or are interested in building those skills.  
  • Be able to commit to the time required for the YPYAC.  
  • Be willing to complete the necessary training (i.e. 3-day, virtual Youth4Change Orientation)  
  • Be able to work respectfully with other youth and adults in a group setting.  

All submissions will be reviewed by a committee including OACAS and member agency staff and former YPYAC members.

Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will be considered based on the strength of their responses and their ability to commit to the expectations of the role. OACAS seeks members who represent the wide diversity of youth in care and across the zones.  

Important YPYAC Dates 

February 15th    YPYAC recruitment launched, and online submissions opened for youth to apply.    
February 15th – March 15th   Online submissions remain open for youth applications.   
March 15th   Online submissions close.   
March 15th – 31st Applications are reviewed and final decisions made about selections.   
March 31st   All selected youth to be notified by email and/or phone and information package sent.   
April 6th, 13th, 20th   Youth4Change Orientation Days 1-3 will be held with onboarded youth virtually.    
May 9th*   In-person team building day in advance of Child and Youth In Care Day (CYICD)   

Honorariums are provided for those selected as YPYAC members and who regularly attend and engage in scheduled meetings.  

Questions related to the application can be directed to, David Lewis-Peart, Youth Services Analyst, at dlewispeart@oacas.org or by phone 437-230-2051.