Ontario 2032: A Bold Plan to Help Kids with Disabilities and Development Needs
October 15, 2025
Imagine
Ontario in 2032: Ontario kids with disabilities and developmental needs have
greater access to the foundational clinical care and programs they need,
provided by a developmental healthcare sector that is even stronger, even more
connected, and resourced to meet the demands of Ontario communities.
Empowered
Kids Ontario-Enfants Avenir Ontario (EKO) has spent the past seven years
working alongside its members to evolve the system, activate professionals, and
elevate the needs of kids with disabilities and developmental needs and their
families.
All of
this is possible with the introduction of innovative evidence-based practices
and programs, collaboration among members, and influencing policies that ensure
every child with disabilities and developmental needs in Ontario has access to
timely, high-quality care.
This is the future that Empowered Kids
Ontario’s new 2025–2032 Strategic Plan sets in motion.
At the heart of Ontario’s exciting future are
three words: Evolve. Activate. Elevate.
Together, they describe not only where developmental healthcare is going, but
how the sector gets there.
Evolve: EKO and Its Members Will
Be Known as Leaders in Developmental Healthcare
Through 2032, EKO and its members will help
Ontarians build a healthier future for Ontario’s kids with disabilities and
developmental needs, their families, and their communities.
As EKO evolves, its members will forge new
pathways, translate new knowledge, generate new connections, share expertise,
and accelerate access to care so kids with disabilities and developmental needs
and their families live their best lives.
“Since we know that the foundations of
lifelong health are built in childhood, now is the time to position
developmental healthcare professionals as leaders in shaping the health of our
province,” says EKO Board Chair Tina Langlois. “EKO is committed to building a
future where every child in Ontario has the opportunity to reach their fullest
potential.”
Activate: Supporting and
Empowering EKO Members
Leadership is powerful. It requires action.
That’s why EKO’s second priority for its 2032 goal is to empower the
association’s members, the agencies where health professionals meet kids and families
every day. EKO members are the hands, hearts and voices of developmental
healthcare and will be recognized as such.
EKO’s role is to ensure member agencies have
the resources, networks, data, and business intelligence needed to meet the
growing demands for clinical care and programs. From knowledge exchange and
training to advocacy and representation, EKO empowers its members by removing
barriers to success and providing them with the tools to achieve their goals.
“Our members will grow to be even more
connected to a community of practice, equipped with the latest knowledge and
empowered to advocate for children and families,” says EKO President & CEO
Jennifer Churchill. “With the leadership of EKO, by 2032 our members will have the
resources they need to meet the needs of their communities.”
Elevate: Championing
Developmental Healthcare as the Foundation of Lifelong Health
Finally, EKO will elevate support for every
child in Ontario with disabilities and developmental needs by championing
developmental healthcare. To elevate means ensuring their current well-being
and future potential are never overlooked, and recognizing that when we invest
in developmental healthcare, we make a difference for kids and families and
strengthen the communities in which they live.
Elevation is about telling empowering stories
loudly, boldly, and repeatedly. It is about saying unequivocally that early
intervention can change the trajectory of a child’s life. It means working
alongside families, policymakers, and funders to shift the perspective:
developmental healthcare is not a cost, but an investment that delivers
generational returns.
“Can we say we value our future if the needs
of children with disabilities and developmental needs wait months, sometimes
years for essential clinical care?” asks Churchill. “Imagine an Ontario where
developmental healthcare is recognized as foundational to our children’s
lifelong health.”
By 2032, kids with disabilities and
developmental needs and their families will no longer be marginalized, left
lingering on wait lists. They will be embraced as the bedrock of a healthier
Ontario.
Our Call to Imagine 2032 Together
This is what EKO’s 2025–2032 Strategic Plan
envisions:
- To evolve EKO and its members as
leaders in developmental healthcare;
- To activate and support members so
they can continue to do their best work; and
- To elevate developmental
healthcare, the foundation of
lifelong health, so kids with disabilities and developmental needs and their
families live their best lives.
EKO is committed to a future that will be
healthier, stronger, and more equitable, because together, we have chosen to Evolve. Activate. Elevate.
