Program-At-A-Glance

Registration Accommodation Program-At-A-Glance Detailed Program Speakers

Program-at-a-Glance

Please note: This webpage features the Exchange Conference program-at-a-glance and several session resources. For detailed session descriptions, please visit our Detailed Program webpage. For a document featuring detailed session descriptions, click here. Speakers may change and will be added as we get closer to the Exchange Conference and Conference program may change at any time without notice.

Note: Pre-registration for breakout sessions is not required. You are able to attend any sessions on each event day by heading to the corresponding breakout room location.

May 12, 2025

WELCOME RECEPTION / REGISTRATION
For those who have tickets to the Welcome Reception, OMSSA welcomes attendees to help the Association kick off the 2025 Exchange Conference at the Orchid Café and Terrace.
The Exchange Conference Welcome Reception begins at 5:00 p.m. Members looking to register ahead of the start of the Conference on May 13th can visit the Registration Desk to pick up their badges starting at 4:00 p.m.
Connect with your human services colleagues from across Ontario for a buffet dinner, cash bar, and an evening of networking and catching up ahead of two full days of programming.
Room Orchid Café and Terrace Room

May 13, 2025

BREAKFAST / REGISTRATION

8:00 to 8:45AM

Room: International Foyer

OPENING REMARKS AND PLENARY

8:45 to 10:20AM

Room: International B & C

Land Acknowledgement and Opening Remarks:

Stella Danos-Papaconstantinou, OMSSA Vice-President and Commissioner, Social Services, Regional Municipality of Durham

PLENARY
Supporting, Connecting, Advocating: Celebrating OMSSA's Role in Provincial Social Services
As we celebrate our 75 year history, this session will reflect where we have been, look at where we are and where we are going.

The story of the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association begins after the end of World War Two. At that time there was widespread fear that the Canadian economy would revert into depression. As a way of preventing this Canada began to experiment with the state having a more significant role supporting markets and the economy through government programs and infrastructure.

With that, the Ontario Welfare Officers Association was founded in 1950 and became the immediate forerunner to OMSSA. Later, in the mid-1970s, OMSSA emerged to reflect the Association's focus on broader social services provision in Ontario. Ultimately, the Association sought to represent municipal interests, share best practices, and advocate for improvements in the delivery of social services in partnership with the provincial government. It focused on areas like welfare administration, public health, and housing, reflecting the social challenges of post-war Ontario.

75 years later, OMSSA has established itself as the key policy advocacy and professional development source for municipal social services throughout Ontario.

In this opening plenary session, past presidents, social services advocates, and current OMSSA Board Members will discuss how the association was initially shaped and how its role has both stayed the same and shifted over time. This wide-ranging discussion between experts who have deep knowledge of the work of municipal social services will look at the historic and current strengths of the Association while providing insight into the how emerging social services leaders can help to shape our future.

Speakers:

(moderator) Adelina Urbanski, Principal, Urban Issues Consulting and OMSSA President (2003-2004)
Cathy Cousins, Director of Homelessness and Community Engagement, Community Services, Region of Niagara and Past President, OMSSA (2021-2023)
Jabari Lindsay, Director, Income and Social Supports, Regional Municipality of Peel and OMSSA Board Member (2024-present).
Keith Palmer, Deputy Minister of Sport, Ministry of Sport and OMSSA President (2015-2017)
Alf Spencer, Director, The West Wind Association and OMSSA President (1997-1998)
John Stapleton, Consultant, Open Policy Ontario

This breakout session is hosted by Hicks Morley

Navigating Workplace Risk: Legal Obligations in Health, Safety, and Mental Well-Being

LUNCH

12:00 to 1:15PM

Room: International Foyer

BREAKOUTS #2

1:15 to 2:35PM

2.1 Presentations

Room: International A

Local Municipal Champion: WERECE: Windsor-Essex Registered Early Childhood Educators: A Local Approach to Recruitment and Retention
Local Municipal Champion: Northumberland Early Years Employment Initiative - EYEI Program

2.2 Presentations

Room: Mississauga C

Collaborating to Address Encampments: Assertive Street Outreach in Niagara
Peel's Asylum Claimant Response

2.3 Presentation

Room: Mississauga A & B

Meeting the Moment: Designing a Local End of Mortgage Strategy

2.4 Presentation

Room: New York

Reconciliation with Purpose, a Healing-Informed, Transformational, Collaborative Framework to Become Urban Kin

BREAK

2:35 to 2:55PM

Room: International Foyer

BREAKOUTS #3

2:55 to 4:15PM

3.1 Presentations

Room: Mississauga A & B

Conditions of Quality and SNR Review - A New System Model
Quality Assurance and Compliance in Special Needs Resourcing

3.2 Presentations

Room: International A

Local Municipal Champion: Region of Durham: Building Collaborations for Responsive Mental Health and Social Care Supports and Services
Local Municipal Champion: County of Simcoe: Access to Integrated Care in Couchiching: A Partnership Between the County of Simcoe Ontario Works and Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital

This breakout session is hosted by 211 Ontario

2025 AWARDS BANQUET

6:00PM to 12:00AM

Room: International B & C

As part of the Exchange Conference festivities, OMSSA is pleased to announce the Awards Banquet will return for 2025. The Awards Banquet is an opportunity to recognize our OMSSA Awards recipients and to gather for an evening to celebrate as a sector. There will be entertainment after dinner and a cash bar.

Recognition:

Champion of Human Services Award: Adrienne Jugley
Lifetime Achievement Award: Katherine Chislett
Young Leader Award: Kendra Habing
Local Municipal Champion Awards:
- City of Brantford: Community Resource Navigation Pilot
- City of Windsor: Windsor-Essex Registered Early Childhood Educators Campaign (WERECE)
- County of Renfrew: Mesa - A Collaborative Approach to Compassionate Care
- Access to Integrated Care in Couchiching: A Partnership between the County of Simcoe Ontario Works and OSMH
- Northumberland County: Early Years Employment Initiative
- Region of Durham: Family Services Durham
- Region of Peel: Stability Supports Program

May 14, 2025

BREAKFAST / REGISTRATION

8:00 to 8:45AM

Room: International Foyer

OPENING REMARKS

8:45 to 9:00AM

Land Acknowledgement and Opening Remarks:

Stella Danos-Papaconstantinou, OMSSA Vice-President and Commissioner, Social Services, Regional Municipality of Durham

Room: International B & C

BREAK

9:00 to 9:10AM

Room: International Foyer

BREAKOUTS #4

9:10 to 10:30AM

4.1 Presentations

Room: Paris

Welcoming the Rainbow: Creating Resources for 2SLGBTQ+ Inclusion in Children's Programs
"Embracing Black Hair" Beauty Salon & Barber Shop

4.2 Presentation

Room: New York

Growth by Design: Expanding Not-for-Profit and Public Child Care

Resources:

About Child Care Now
Overview of Growth by Design, current project and related papers
Child care expansion in Manitoba: Spotlight on the Ready-to-Move initiative
Childcare Resource and Research Unit: Moving from private to public processes: A series on creating child care in Canada
Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance Who Does What series: The municipal role in child care
City of Vancouver: Making Strides: Vancouver’s Childcare Strategy

Program-At-A-Glance

Program-at-a-Glance

Sponsored by the Regional Municipality of Durham

This breakout session is hosted by Hicks Morley

Sponsored by the County of Simcoe

This breakout session is hosted by 211 Ontario

Sponsored by the Municipality of Chatham-Kent