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Recognizing Early Years Visitors

Family Well-being

A Look Inside the First National Early Years Visitors Week

In May 2025, the Martin Family Initiative (MFI) celebrated the first-ever National Early Years Visitors Week: a week to honour and celebrate the amazing Early Years Visitors working in Indigenous communities across Canada.  

These Visitors do much more than support early childhood development. They build strong relationships with families and communities and offer kindness, guidance, and care during some of life’s most important moments. 

The idea for the week came from Heather Downie, Manager of the Early Years program in Ermineskin Cree Nation. She reached out to Alix Gordon-Moran, MFI’s Family Well-Being Director, and shared that she wanted to do something special to honour the Visitors in her community. That one email sparked a nationwide celebration; Alix connected with other Early Years Program Directors across the country, and the response was immediate and enthusiastic. With support from MFI’s Communications and Production team, we came together to create something meaningful—a campaign focusing on the people who make the Early Years programs what they are.  

The team gathered powerful reflections from Visitors working throughout Canada, and parents and caregivers also shared their experiences. Nikki, a parent in Maskwacis, told her family’s story in Through a Family’s Eyes, explaining how her Visitor, Annette, helped her and her husband feel confident as new parents. Nikki’s story reflects what Visitors do every day; they walk alongside families, offering support and laying foundations that can influence a lifetime. 

“She filled the gap between us and parenthood. We will forever be grateful.” - Nikki, Parent  

Building Relationships One Visit at a Time 

Visitors create connections that are built on trust, kindness, and respect. Many said that they begin by listening: listening to children, parents, and Elders. These relationships are where the real impact begins.  

“Parents already know how to be good parents. It’s already there. It’s part of us. The Toolbox cards are just gentle reminders.” - Visitor, YFNED Early Years 

“The look on a parent’s and children’s face when you arrive...you never forget that.” - Visitor, YFNED Early Years 

For example, in just one year, Visitors across YFNED Early Years communities made over 1,400 home visits, ran 330 group gatherings and drop-ins, and welcomed more than 3,900 community members into spaces full of learning and laughing. These numbers tell a powerful story: Early Years Visitors are creating spaces of belonging, connection, and growth. Their work strengthens families, builds community, and shapes brighter futures—one visit, one gathering, and one relationship at a time. National Early Years Visitors Week is just the beginning of the recognition they so deeply deserve. 

Tools That Reflect Culture and Connection 

A big part of many visits includes MFI’s Toolbox cards, which are created in collaboration with Early Years partners and include simple conversation topics, caregiving strategies and playful learning activities that support child development. Some cards include both English and the community’s own language, with MFI working with community members, Elders, and translators to make this happen. The cards also include artwork designed by local artists and are made to support early learning in a way that feels familiar and meaningful. They focus on things like emotions, identity, developmental milestones, and routines. Visitors use them to prompt discussion, encourage play, and create learning moments between caregiver and child. 

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As a Visitor from Ross River, Yukon shared: 

“The Toolbox is an awesome way to connect with families; it brings learning and language into the home, and it’s fun!”  

At the same time, the support that Visitors offer goes beyond the Toolbox. Every visit is shaped by what the family needs most in that moment, whether that’s sharing a story that brings comfort or connection, offering encouragement, or just being there to lend a hand. Sometimes, those stories are personal, about parenting, grief, or resilience. Other times, they’re about ancestors and community teachings that remind families of their strength. 

Importantly, Visitors are trained to provide guidance and support—offering trusted information about child development and ensuring that parents feel confident and informed in the decisions they make for their children. 

That support can also look like dropping off a smudging kit, bringing groceries, or offering a ride to an appointment. Other times, it’s as simple as and powerful as singing a lullaby or being a steady presence.  

“We visit moms and do our best to support them with whatever we can—weekly groceries, transportation, cultural events. We just want to make life a little easier.” - Visitor, Ermineskin Early Years 

A Week to Celebrate, A Legacy to Carry Forward  

National Early Years Visitors Week was more than a celebration; it was a way to recognize those who have built and grown these programs from the ground up. From the very first Early Years Visitor in Maskwacis to Inuit women leading the work in Nunavut and Mi’kmaw Visitors in Nova Scotia helping children connect to their Mi’kmaw identity, every Visitor has helped shape something powerful.  

As Laura Merritt, Director of the Kivalliq Early Years Program, said: 

“Our Early Years Visitors have made a real difference in our communities. They meet families with care and without judgement, helping them feel seen, supported, and capable...This work helps strengthen not just individuals, but the whole community.”  

She continued:  

“What makes our Visitor team truly special is that they are Inuit helping other Inuit— bringing lived experience, language, and cultural knowledge into every visit. They support families in a way that feels natural and respectful. The Ilitaqsiniq Early Years program gives back a preventative and strengths-based approach grounded in Inuit ways of knowing – lifting one another with love, care, and mutual support.” 

To bring the week to life, MFI’s team helped coordinate interview questions, collect photos, and share stories from across the programs. Every post and quote was chosen with care to reflect how important this work really is. 

“They helped me find myself as a mom. That might not seem big, but it changed everything.” - Participant, YFNED Early Years 

“If we want to build a strong community, we have to learn to work together. Because our focus is the same—safety and well-being of the kids...We want them to have places to be that are healthy and safe. Places where they can learn, where they can grow, and where they can socialize, where they can build themselves.” - Community Member, Ross River 

Looking Ahead  

This was the first National Early Years Visitors Week, but it won’t be the last. We’ve only begun to show how much this work matters and how deeply it affects families and communities. 

As we celebrate this milestone, we also pause to say thank you. 

The incredible home visitors working in our partners’ Early Years programs teach us what community-centred support looks like. Walking alongside children and parents through some of the most joyful—and most challenging—moments of their lives, their steady care and commitment play a powerful role in nurturing the next generation. It is an unbelievable privilege to participate in the development and growth of Indigenous-led Early Years programs across Canada, and we are deeply grateful to be welcomed into this vision, to stand with our partners in their efforts to support strong, thriving communities.   

To every Early Years Visitor across the country: thank you. You are doing some of the most important work there is: supporting families during their earliest chapters, making caregivers feel confident and seen, and creating spaces where children are safe, curious, and connected to who they are. Your presence matters, your care makes a difference, and your work continues to shape strong, thriving communities—now and for generations to come. 

In Honour of Ilitaqsiniq Early Years  

As we close out this celebration, we also want to honour the unique contributions and impact of the Ilitaqsiniq Early Years. 

Just weeks after the campaign, Ilitaqsiniq’s Early Years program—a strong, Inuit-led initiative—was forced to close. This wasn’t a decision made by the community or the dedicated team behind the program; it comes as a result of shifts in how the Inuit Child First Initiative is administered. Yet, even in the face of this closure, the impact of the Ilitaqsiniq Early Years continues to resonate; We’ve seen over the years how powerful this program has been. Staff brought culture, language, and care into homes, and families relied on this program. The love and strength shown by the Ilitaqsiniq team will continue to ripple through every family they have supported. This chapter may be closing but the relationships, knowledge, and care you shared will carry on.  

To the entire Ilitaqsiniq team, thank you for the generosity, knowledge, and passion that you have shared with us and with families across Nunavut.  

Want to Learn More?  

To find out more about the Early Years programs that MFI has partnered with, check out the links below:  

Ermineskin

YFNED

Tajikeimɨk

Ilitaqsiniq

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