Niagara-on-the-Lake’s EarlyON Child and Family Centre is reopening this September at the town’s public library, under a new partnership between the Niagara Region and the Niagara Falls Public Library, announced on July 21.
The move follows an April announcement from the region that the program would be relocated from St. Michael Catholic Elementary School and the Niagara Catholic District School Board would not longer provide it. At the time, a new location had not yet been confirmed.
The region has since paired up with the Niagara Falls Public Library, responsible for delivering EarlyON services in both Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake. EarlyON offers free services for parents, caregivers and children from birth to age six.
NOTL will have one site at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library on Anderson Lane, while Niagara Falls will have four at existing library locations.
The contract has no end date and renews automatically each January unless either side opts out.
It’s a lot of libraries to keep track of.
Basically, Niagara Falls Public Library is the service provider, or employer, and NOTL’s library is simply the location.
“We’re renting space from the library,” said Anne Andres-Jones, the Niagara Falls library board chair, in an email.
When it comes to when they’ll use the library’s space, what they do and what space is available, Andres-Jones said, “We’ll collaborate with them.”
The region’s director of children’s services, Satinder Klair, said EarlyOn in NOTL will begin with 10 hours a week — double what was offered at St. Michael’s — aiming to expand to 30 by early 2026.
The service provider is committed to reaching 130 hours weekly, total, across NOTL and Niagara Falls “in a graduated but fairly timely manner,” said Klair in an email.
He said the new setup aims to ensure EarlyON sites are within a 15-minute drive for all families.
Hands-on support to help families with the changes will start in late August, to make sure they have “all the information,” Klair said, before services officially begin in early September.
“We’re very pleased that we are actually right on track and even a little bit ahead of schedule,” he said.
To guide future improvements, the region plans to review the program annually with the provider, he said.
It also intends to collect feedback after the new site opens to meet the needs of communities, families and children, Andres-Jones said. “Engagement is always really important.”
The engagement process and timeline have not yet been determined.
Klair said he’s seen the impact of EarlyON firsthand in his own children, four-year-old Bani Kaur Klair and Simran Kaur Klair, who turns two in October.
“You just watch your child progress through their development so much faster,” he said.
“And become that little human that we’re all looking for them to become.”
