The Healthy Early Years (HEY) program aims to improve the health and development of children and their families, particularly those living in situations of increased vulnerability.
Ottawa -Improving the health and wellbeing of children and families in official language minority communities (OLMCs) across Canada is a priority for the Government of Canada. Health and development programs that are appropriate to the culture and language of communities helps to support healthier children, families and communities for generations.
Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced $9,450,000 over five years, for two organizations through the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) Healthy Early Years program. This investment will help improve access to community-based early childhood health promotion programming in OLMCs, including assisting families facing health equity barriers. It will also expand knowledge and resources as well as strengthen capacity to help improve the health and development of children (birth to 6 years of age).
- The Société Santé en français (SSF) will receive $7,560,000 to support francophones living in OLMCs outside of the province of Quebec.
- The Community Health and Social Services Network (CHSSN) will receive $1,890,000 to support anglophones living in OLMCs in the province of Quebec.
Both SSF and CHSSN will re-distribute funds to community-based organizations supporting the implementation and delivery of locally-tailored initiatives, including those that provide prenatal and postnatal activities, parenting skills programs and child-parent relationship programs. Throughout the next five years, SSF and CHSSN will offer capacity-building support, training and networking opportunities, host knowledge exchange and transfer events and disseminate resources to their community partners.
“The Société Santé en français and the Community Health and Social Services Network understand the needs of their communities and have demonstrated the significant impact of their work and networks over the years. The renewal of their projects for the next five years will continue to improve the health and well-being of people living in official language minority communities across Canada, including low-income, socially isolated, single-parent families or newcomer families with young children.” – Mark Holland, Minister of Health