Literacy Link South Central

Pathways (Skills Development Fund)

Based on the success of our SkillsAdvance Ontario-funded partnership with Carrefour communautaire francophone de London (CCFL), we are thrilled to announce the Pathways Into a Child Care and Early Years Career program will continue through 2024!

What is Pathways into a Child Care and Early Years Career?

This program offers two levels of training related to working with young children. The introductory level offers training to both English-speaking and French-speaking job seekers who are ready to begin a rewarding career in early years education and child care. Participants attend a FREE 12-week online training program that teaches:

foundational skills, often called the Skills for Success
employability skills, including resume writing, and interview skills
digital literacy skills
interpersonal skills like communication, work ethic, and teamwork
the technical skills and knowledge required in the field of early childhood education

Participants also receive several certifications required to work in the field and will participate in a three-week PAID on-the-job work experience. Following the program, they will receive a full year of employment support to ensure they move on to a successful career or further education in the field.

To learn more about the introductory program, download this brochure (English) or this brochure (French)!

Employers: Are you an employer looking for assistants for your child care centre? Consider hosting a Pathways Into a Child Care and Early Years Career participant for their 3-week work opportunity. Hosting a participant can help support your current RECE's while you evaluate an assistant's readiness to join your team. We're thrilled to say that many of our previous participants continue as assistants at their work opportunity sites to this day, and several have signed on as registered apprentices!

To learn more about hosting a Pathways participant in your child care centre, download this brochure (English) or this brochure (French).

The leadership level of the program offers high-quality leadership training to English-speaking and French-speaking Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECEs) who wanted to advance in their organizations. Participants in this FREE 12-week part-time professional development program learn about:

key stakeholders in the child care sector
relationships with community partners
board governance
finances
human resources
leadership and professionalism

Throughout the program, participants are guided by a mentor at their workplace and participate in bi-weekly community of practice sessions with other professionals to discuss their learning.

To learn more about the leadership program, download this brochure and this flyer (English) or this brochure and this flyer (French)!

This Skills Development Fund (SDF) program is funded through the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. The project lead is Carrefour communautaire francophone de London (CCFL) in partnership with Literacy Link South Central and the Licenced Child Care Network (LCCN).