Our existence

Who are we?

OMEP-Canada is the Canadian National Committee of the World Organization for Early Childhood Education (OMEP); Founded in 1958, OMEP-Canada is one of approximately 70 National Committees of OMEP;

OMEP-Canada is a consulting body recognized by several organizations, nationally and internationally.

Mission

The aim of OMEP-Canada is the progress of early childhood education. OMEP-Canada has the following objectives:

to promote the education and well-being of young children from 0 to 8 years;
to bring together within OMEP organizations and individuals working in the fields of preschool education, the care of children and support for families with young children.

The goals of OMEP-Canada are :

to encourage the establishment or continuity of early childhood settings in Canada and abroad;
to promote research in the education of young children, their well-being as well as the needs of families, and to gather together information in Canada on these questions, and transmit to OMEP and share across Canada this collected information;
to encourage affiliated organizations, provincial or territorial assemblies and all their members to pursue activities which support the goals of OMEP, and to collaborate amongst themselves.

Historical

OMEP was founded in Prague in 1948. Canada was represented at this founding meeting by Mrs. Grace Dolmage, from Vancouver. In 1956, the Nursery Education Association of Ontario (NEAO), which later became the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario, studied the possibility of establishing a Canadian committee affiliated with OMEP.

A Preparatory Committee was admitted into OMEP at its congress in Brussels, in 1958. In 1960, this Committee held its first General Assembly in Sainte-Adèle, Québec, and obtained its full membership as National Committee at the OMEP World Congress in Zagreb. In 1966, OMEP-Canada, under the presidency of Mrs. Elsie Stapleford, was legally incorporated in Canada as a not-for-profit organization.

Operation

OMEP-Canada is a National Committee of the OMEP World Assembly where it is represented by its President, who may be accompanied by members as observers. OMEP-Canada is part of the North America and the Caribbean region, one of the five regions of OMEP. OMEP-Canada consists of individual and organizational members. A call is sent to members for the General Assembly held every year. Members may change the constitution and set the amount of the membership fee. They elect members to the Board and to the Executive Committee for two years terms. The Board of Directors is composed of the members of the Executive Committee, four Board Officers, the chairperson of each permanent committee (Membership, Newsletter, and Financing), and a member to represent each assembly. The Executive Committee consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, as well as an officer elected from the four Board Officers.

The current members of OMEP-Canada’s Executive Committee are:
President : Manon Boily
Vice-President : Nathalie Goulet
Acting secretary : Julie Leroux
Treasurer : Élisabeth Jacob
Officer : Isabelle Deshaies

In addition to the members of the Executive Committee, the current members of the Board are:
Officers :
Marie-Christine Allaire
Marilyn Dupuis Brouillette
Charlaine Saint-Jean

Assembly representatives :
Pacific : Diane Campeau
Prairies : Liliana Sulikowska-Klebec Ontario : Aviva Segal
Québec : Ginette Beauséjour
Atlantic : Line Collin

Chairpersons of Permanent Committees :
OMEP-Canada INFO : upcoming
Membership : upcoming
Financing : upcoming