About Mothercraft

Mothercraft believes that all children should be placed equally on a path to reach their full potential, regardless of where they begin. Since 1931, we have been a leader in supporting healthy child development, working with community partners to address the changing needs of families.

We are continually testing new concepts and ideas related to healthy child development to ensure our work is always evolving and always applicable. We translate our findings and implement them into everything we do. From our high-quality child care and enrichment programs, to our services for children and families who require extra support, we work to ensure a safe, healthy, and positive  experience for all.  at Mothercraft.

A HISTORY OF CARE

1907

Responding to a high rate of infant mortality in New Zealand, Dr. Truby King developed “Mothercraft” as an educational process to address the problem.
Dr. King proposed “Twelve Essentials” for the raising of healthy infants: Air and Sunshine, Water, Food, Clothing, Bathing, Muscular Exercise and Sensory Stimulation, Warmth, Regularity, Cleanliness, Mothering, Management, Rest and Sleep. At the time, the concept was seen as revolutionary.

1918

Dr. King campaigned on the need for pre-parenting, parenting, and the value of breast-feeding.
He was invited to establish a system of Mothercraft in England, based on the underlying message: “Build healthy babies rather than patch sick ones.”

1925

King George V knighted Dr. King as the Mothercraft Movement spread to all corners of the empire: India, Jamaica, Scotland, Australia, South Africa, England, and of course New Zealand where it all started.
Queen Mary, the Duchess of York and other members of the Royal Family provided support, interest, and encouragement in the activities and accomplishments of Mothercraft.

1931

Barbara Mackenzie, a Mothercraft Nurse, came to Canada and married Irving Robertson, Chairman of the Board of the Hospital for Sick Children. Together they set up a Mothercraft Centre in Toronto.
Mrs. Robinson championed the cause of midwifery in Canada, founding the Mothercraft Well-Baby Nursing Training program and operating a maternity hospital and community registry.

1931

Mothercraft opened advice rooms so families could bring children for medical and nutritional advice. It also established a Well-Baby Nurse Registry which aided with breastfeeding and getting infants on timetables and provided at-home child care support.
Mothercraft also pioneered prenatal classes focusing on mental health and infant well-being.

1944

A Mothercraft branch opened in Ottawa.
A fundamental shift occurred in training, focusing more on infant child-care than well-baby nursing.

1965

Mothercraft opened one of the first infant child care centres, positioning Mothercraft as a leader in infant care and education.

1967

Mothercraft partnered with the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) to research the effects of quality child care on disadvantaged children. This research formed the basis upon which the ECE curriculum was written.

1978

Mothercraft’s ECE diploma program received equivalency in the Province of Ontario, the Association of Early Childhood Educators and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.

1979

Based on the research by Dr. Dorothy Shipe at OISE, the Parent-Infant Program was established to support infants at risk and their families.

1991

During the 60th consecutive year in Ontario, Mothercraft was selected to operate the Brookfield Place and Eaton Centre child care facilities.

1993

Mothercraft developed an Early Childhood Education program using the “anti-bias” approach.

1994

Mothercraft helped craft a unique collaborative service for children with suspected or diagnosed developmental delays – KIDS.

1995

Breaking the Cycle was created to help women who are pregnant or caring for young children, and struggling with substance abuse.

2002

The Institute for Early Development was established to research early development to support Best Practice activity.

2003

St. Paul’s Early Years Centre was created.
Mothercraft developed EYSIS (Early Years Services Information System) on behalf of the 22 Early Years Centres in Toronto.

2005

Mothercraft was selected to develop CYSIS (Children and Youth Services Information System) for all children’s programs in Toronto.

2006

Mothercraft celebrates 75 years in Ontario!

Breaking the Cycle was identified as a Best Practice site by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes.

2007

Breaking the Cycle was awarded the Kaiser Foundation National Harm Reduction Award
Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use Programming

2008

Academic and training programs, together with CYSIS, move to Mothercraft’s new facility at 646 St. Clair Avenue West

2010 

Mothercraft partners with Frameline Productions to develop and deliver “Caring for Canada’s Children” – a series of 12 webcasts aimed at increasing workers’ knowledge of promoting healthy child development and family functioning among newcomer families.

2011 

Mothercraft celebrates its 80th Anniversary!

2011 

Mothercraft works with community partners to create and launch the Toronto Early Childhood & Family Resource System – Pathway & Resource Listing, a referral tool to assist practitioners who work with families.

2011 

Eleanor Szakacs wins the prestigious Gerald Kirsh Humanitarian Award at Princess Margret Hospital for her inspired work at Mothercraft’s Magic Castle.

2013 

Mothercraft presents the inaugural Bill Bosworth Memorial Award to Laurel Rothman, for outstanding contributions to improving the lives of children in Toronto.

2013 

Breaking the Cycle is included in the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Best Practices Portal for Maternal and Infant Health.

2013 

Margaret Leslie receives the Elizabeth Manson Award for Community Service in Children’s Mental Health, presented by the Hospital for Sick Children.

2013 

Mothercraft College incorporates Ontario’s new pedagogical framework for early learning into its curricula and develops practical training programs for licensed child care & family support practitioners across Toronto & Ontario.

2014 

Margaret Leslie is named 2014 Public Health Champion by the Toronto Board of Health for leadership in reducing health inequity, foster collaboration to improve health, building community capacity through innovation and acting as a catalyst for positive change.

2015 

Mothercraft is approved to receive $2.29M over 5 years from the Public Health Agency of Canada to deliver Building Connections in communities across Canada as part of the Family Violence and Child Abuse Prevention Initiative.

2015 

Michele Lupa is invited to participate in Bridging Divides, an initiative of the Ryerson City Building Institute, aimed at developing concrete solutions to some of the biggest issues facing the GTHA region.  Her theme, “Access to Services”, is the topic of a live, on-line chat hosted by The Toronto Star.

2015 

In collaboration with community partners, the Common Intake Project is rolled out across the city with the aim of reducing the number of times families have to tell their stories when accessing specialized services for children.

2016 

Mothercraft hosts a two-day provincial symposium on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in partnership with FASD Ontario Network of Expertise and the Public Health Agency of Canada.  Close to 400 delegates hear presentations on the latest research and practices in the field of FASD.

2016 

Michele Lupa is invited to join the Minister of Education’s Early Years Advisory Committee.

2017 

Glory Ressler is the National Representative for Canada and conference presenter at the 2017 World Forum on Early Care and Education, in Auckland, New Zealand.

2017 

Mothercraft hosts the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and the Honourable Indira Naidoo-Harris, Minister Responsible for Early Years and Child Care, for the official signing of a bilateral agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario.

2017 

Mothercraft coordinates the successful pilot of Check It Out, a one-stop, community-based event access to professionals who could answer questions about child development, health and well-being.

2018 

Mothercraft is invited to attend the ReadyNation Global Business Summit on Early Childhood in New York, NY. Over 200 US business leaders and international representatives gathered to discuss ways in which non-traditional allies can advance policy and investment in early childhood.

2018 

Mothercraft becomes a signatory to the Baby Bundle Accord — a partnership with Indigenous organizations to create a seamless system of support for Indigenous families.

2019 

Mothercraft is selected to operate two new child care centres: Avondale Centre for Early Development (near Yonge/Sheppard) and Midtown (near Yonge/Eglinton).  Both centres are scheduled to open in 2020.   

2019 

Sara Wolfe, Indigenous nurse and midwife, founder of Seven Generations Midwives Toronto and a driving force behind the Baby Bundle Project, receives the 2019 Bill Bosworth Memorial Award with her family at the ceremony held in June.

2020 

In response to the pandemic lockdown, Mothercraft suspends all in-person activity in March 2020.  All programs and the Mothercraft College of Early Childhood Education shift to virtual delivery.

2021 

Mothercraft opens the Midtown Centre for Early Development (CED) in April 2021, and the Avondale CED in November 2021.

2021 

The Building Connections project – a five year national research project supporting communities across Canada to respond to interpersonal violence and child maltreatment – produces its final reports

2021 

The EarlyON Child and Family Centre and Early Intervention Programs re-open for in-person services, as does the College of Early Childhood Education.

2022 

Mothercraft coordinates the Virtual Check It Out Pilot to assess the effectiveness of a virtual screening and referral model.

2022 

Mothercraft receives funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada to deliver Healing Through Relationships, designed to enhance maternal mental health and prevent children’s mental health problems among mothers and children disproportionately affected by COVID-19

2022 

The Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) funding to the University of Ottawa to examine whether BTC leads to enhanced mental health outcomes for infants and young children, how the program works, and what the long-term cost-benefits of the BTC program are. 

STRATEGIC PLAN

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION ACTION PLAN

TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN

ANNUAL REPORTS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

To contact the Board, please email boardchair@mothercraft.org.

AWARDS

BILL BOSWORTH MEMORIAL AWARD

Recognizing community leadership, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to children and families

Bill Bosworth was an exemplary and long-serving member of the Mothercraft Board of Directors. During his ten-year tenure on the Board, Bill served on numerous committees, and as President of the Board he worked tirelessly and with passion in providing leadership to the organization.

Bill’s openness of spirit and commitment to Mothercraft’s mission helped guide the organization though a journey of growth and to the achievement of excellence. Bill had the innate ability to see through to the core of an issue and with pragmatic consideration, offer insight that led to solutions that always focused, first and foremost on the well-being of children and their families.

Bill had a rare energy that was fuelled by a belief in the basic dignity of every human being, a sense that all things are possible, and an intelligence that enabled him to skillfully manoeuver through any complexity. And he did it all with a grin that could light up any room!

Mothercraft is one of the many organizations who will never forget this remarkable man. We were all diminished by his sudden death in August 2011.

In memory of the impact Bill made upon Mothercraft and his legacy of making a difference for children, families and communities, Mothercraft, in partnership with Bill’s family – his wife, Joan, his daughter, Jenny and his son, Steve – established the BILL BOSWORTH MEMORIAL AWARD.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR THE BILL BOSWORTH MEMORIAL AWARD:

The Award is open to any person or organization residing in the City of Toronto who is involved, as a professional, volunteer or student, in the delivery of community-based, not-for-profit services in the City of Toronto and who meet the criteria outlined below.

NOMINATION CRITERIA:

  • Nominees must be over the age of 18 years.
  • All nominations must be made by a third party. No self-nominations.
  • Nominees must be involved in the delivery of community-based, not-for-profit services – as an individual or an organization; as a professional or a volunteer; as a student or an educator.
  • Nominations must articulate the outstanding contributions the nominee has made to the lives of children and families as a community leader, volunteer or professional.
  • Nominations must demonstrate some or all of the following:
  • Outstanding mentorship;
  • Sharing of knowledge and experience;
  • Outstanding leadership and the capacity to put vision into action;
  • The ability to turn passion into deeds;
  • Involvement in the creation of innovative service delivery models;
  • A belief in the strength of family and community.

SELECTION PROCESS:

  • The Award Selection Committee is comprised of representatives of Bill’s family, the Mothercraft Board of Directors and community partners.
  • The winner will be selected based on the Committee’s assessment of how well the submission articulates the nominee’s demonstration of the Nomination Criteria.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: COMING SOON!

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