Events

Link to Register: Click HereThe ECDA team and board are excited to present your 2026 Fall Conference: Start with Play! “Start With Play”, is part of a larger campaign, reflecting on 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 Fall, we’re bringing back Experiences! Based on your positive feedback we are excited to offer this format again this year! On Day One educators will select one of 18 unique Experiences with paired morning and afternoon sessions held close together, so you can immerse yourself in valuable topics without needing major travel between venues. On Day Two we will gather together at the Confederation Centre of the Arts for our Keynote Experience! Friday, November 6th brings together Rusty Keeler, Jessica Karpathios, Hannah Beach, and Richard Monette to highlight the value of play! Please see the conference booklet attached below for a full breakdown of the event, Breakout Experience descriptions and our new payment structure, including Early Bird Pricing!! Registration closes on November 2nd. Payment is due in full at the time of registering, or if your centre is paying no later than November 2nd!   Registration for the 2026 Fall Conference: Start with Play will open on September 22nd at 6:00pm. The registration process will be hosted securely through Zeffy, ensuring a smooth experience for everyone! Please read the instructions below carefully to ensure a smooth registration process: Choose only one Breakout Experience. Each attendee must select one Breakout Experience during registration. All Breakout Experience tickets include access to the Keynote Experience. Is your centre paying for registration?If your centre is covering your conference registration, use the code fall2026  (no spaces or capitalization) at checkout. No payment information will be required. Please be sure to select “Check” to apply the discount code. If applied correctly, no payment information will be required. Donations to ZeffyZeffy is free to use and operates on donations. You do not need to donate to complete your registration. Select “Other” and set your donation amount to $0 before finalizing checkout. Trouble registering for your selected session?If you’re unable to complete checkout, it’s likely that your selected session is now full. Please refresh the registration page and select a different Breakout Experience. Spaces are not held until checkout is fully completed. Refresh the selection page to see updated ticket availability DO NOT PAY with pre-authorized debit (PAD). The processing time is up to 10 days and does not guarantee your seat selection!   Preventing Double Payments: Please confirm with your Director or centre owner whether they will be covering the cost of your conference or membership fees, prior to registering for the conference. New Refund Policy: All duplicate payments will now be subject to a $20 administration fee, which will be deducted from the refund amount.

Steps to Success applications are live. Click here for the application!   Steps to Success is a 20-week education and workplace training program that provides: Full-time work experience in licensed early childhood centres working with children ages 0-5 Education at Holland College Support obtaining an Early Childhood Intern certification through the Province of PEI Guidance from an experienced team A boost in employability through hands-on experience, knowledge building, and mentoring relationships with certified early childhood professionals   Winter Start Date: January 18, 2026   Additional information can be found in the uploaded document.   Questions? Contact Megan Drummond  Email: [email protected] Phone: (902) 368 1017Steps to Success is administered by the Early Childhood Development Association of PEI and funded by the Department of Workforce and Advanced Learning through the Canada-PEI Labour Market Agreements.

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:)

This is an immersive workshop designed to explore the transformative impact of storytelling. Through interactive sessions and hands-on activities, educators will discover how storytelling nurtures imagination, language skills, and social-emotional development in young learners. Participants will learn practical strategies for integrating storytelling into daily routines, uncover creative techniques, and explore its role in fostering cultural understanding and inclusive practices.   Facilitator Bio:   Lobna Ajaini is an ECE college professor in Ontario and founder of Childhood Empowerment, a platform dedicated to fostering creativity, leadership, and innovation in early childhood education. Holding a Bachelor of Engineering alongside a Master of Professional Education (MPED) in ECE, an Honours Bachelor in Early Childhood Leadership (HBECL), and a diploma in Early Childhood Education (RECE), Lobna combines technical problem-solving with imaginative pedagogies. She has held diverse roles in early childhood education/adult education and has received multiple awards and recognitions for her contributions. Passionate about Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB), Lobna designs workshops and curricula that empower educators, families, and children to co-create inclusive, creative, and meaningful learning experiences.   Participation: 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.