Events

Directors and Leaders, take a day to invest in yourself and your team. Join us for a full-day pre-conference experience with Elizabeth Eldridge, Certified Psychological Health & Safety Advisor and professional speaker, as she explores what it takes to build healthier, more connected and resilient workplaces. In The Thriving Workplace: Building Stronger Teams from the Inside Out, Elizabeth will guide participants through practical strategies for strengthening workplace culture and supporting the people who make Early Learning and Child Care possible. Throughout the day, we will explore four key areas: Building an Ownership Mindset: Supporting team members to take initiative, responsibility, and pride in their work. Building a Culture of Appreciation and Belonging: Creating workplaces where people feel seen, valued and connected. Supportive Conversations: Developing the confidence and skills to navigate challenging conversations with care and purpose. Preventing Burnout and Building Resilience: Recognizing the factors that contribute to burnout and exploring ways to build resilience at both an individual and team level. Elizabeth brings years of experience supporting individuals and organizations in the area of mental health and workplace well-being. Her interactive and approachable style allows her to explore complex and sometimes sensitive topics in a way that feels accessible, practical and engaging. This pre-conference day is an opportunity for centre Directors and Leaders to pause, reflect and reconnect with what helps teams thrive. Come ready to learn, share, reflect and leave with ideas you can bring back to your workplace. Facilitator BiographyElizabeth Eldridge is a Certified Psychological Health & Safety Advisor and Professional Speaker who has changed how thousands of Canadians think about mental health.​After several years of clinical work supporting individuals with psychiatric conditions in inpatient, forensic and community-based care, Elizabeth founded Arpeggio Health Services, which has grown into one of Canada's leading service providers for standardized training such as the Mental Health Commission of Canada's Mental Health First Aid program.​As a consultant, Elizabeth works with companies large and small that are striving to optimize workplace mental health to boost productivity, decrease absenteeism and improve employee satisfaction and workplace culture. ​A favoured keynote speaker, Elizabeth has taken the stage for conferences and professional development events across Canada. Her sense of humour and interactive approach allow her to deliver even the most sensitive subject matter in a way that feels non-threatening and accessible to participants and audiences. Learn more about Elizabeth at www.elizabetheldridge.com 

We're excited to give you a sneak peek at what's coming this fall! ECDA of PEI Start With Play Fall Conference 2026 November 5 & 6, 2026 Charlottetown We're thrilled to announce that Rusty Keeler will be joining us as our keynote speaker, alongside an exciting lineup of new facilitators and returning favourites. This year's conference will include an Experience Day and conclude with a Keynote Day at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in beautiful downtown Charlottetown. “Start With Play”, which is part of a larger upcoming campaign, reflects something we know deeply as Early Childhood Educators: play is the most essential way children learn, explore, connect, and make sense of the world around them. This conference will invite us to think about how we can bring more play into every day and how we can share the importance of play with others in our communities. Together, we'll explore how play can be part of all facets of life and how we can create more opportunities to find joy in the process, not just in the outcome. More details about the Fall Conference are coming soon!

The Director Network Meeting gathers on the third Wednesday of each month from 9:30 am - 12:00 pm. We are happy to provide a hybrid meeting space, with the option to meet in-person at the ECDA Boardroom or via Zoom, to help with travel house ratio i.e., if you're cooking lunch. This network is open to all supervisors, directors, and administrators of licensed early learning and childcare programs. The intention of the group is to encourage open conversation and collaboration to enhance quality practices, such as human resource practices and policies, pedagogy, and leadership. We have an open-door policy for all network meetings, we invite you to come as you are, when you can, if you are in a supervisor position! We will share and support each other in our professional and pedagogical roles. Each meeting we will spend our time together thinking more deeply about topics of interest, current trends and daily practice. We will approach problems from a solution-based lens together and have lively and respectful round table discussions. We would love to have someone from every centre join us as we continue to support one another through the journey! Bring yourself, invite a friend, and we can't wait to meet you, or see you again :)

“Courageous conversations mean having the courage to show up when you can’t control the outcome.” ~ Brené Brown The ECDA is excited to host ECE Sharing and Networking sessions. These are open door meetings that welcome anyone working as a front-line educator. These meetings will provide space to gather with other early childhood educators to share what is on your heart or to seek support. The meetings are a place to listen, provide encouragement, share resources, and connect with your colleagues across the province. We would love to welcome at least one ECE from every Island centre to the network, and we realize some meeting dates will work better than others - so come when you can! The agenda for these sessions will be very flexible and will build over time based on the interest of those participating. Recently we have discussed things such as Dual Language Learners, Behaviours, PD wishes and many other! Come join us this month to see what comes up:) Registration for network meetings is required. This meeting will run with a minimum of 4 participants. These will be held once a month, so come when you can! Based on feedback we have flipped these to be entirely virtual:)

Strong relationships are the foundation of student success. This workshop is designed for educators working with school-age children and explores how building positive, affective relationships supports positive behaviour, emotional well-being, and academic achievement. Educators will learn practical strategies to strengthen relationships with students, foster a positive classroom community, and implement effective classroom management techniques that encourage self-regulation, conflict resolution, and respectful communication. Through reflection, discussion, and real-life scenarios, educators will leave with practical tools they can use immediately to create safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments.   Facilitator Bio: Donna is a full-time faculty member of Vanier College Early childhood education department. A part- time course lecturer at McGill University, she has spent the last 23 years teaching, supervising and supporting students on their journey to becoming educators. Donna is the founder of The Infinite Educator, an organization that provides childcare consulting and workshops to the English School boards and childcare facilities in Quebec. She has given workshops for LEARN QUEBEC, QAPPD conference, Sir Wilfred Laurier School Board, New Frontier School as well as many daycare facilities throughout Montreal.       Please note that participants must register individually to attend professional learning sessions. Participants will be given the link to the video and are required to participate in one of two ways-- with a microphone/built in speaker or through the chat. In addition there will be a log tracking which members contribute and which do not, and those that do not contribute will not receive PD hours. We ask that you leave your camera on for the session.