Annual Impact Report November 2016 — November 2017 Word from our Founder & “ We simply couldn’t Lead Director of the Board have done this without you! Your support has helped raise awareness

Thank you for joining Children First in supporting our bold and ambitious vision that together we can make Canada the best that Canada’s children place in the world for kids to grow up! are not alright, and “ helped build a national It’s hard to believe how much has been accomplished in the year following the public launch of our national campaign! This report movement to do better. highlights some of the incredible accomplishments following our launch in November 2016, through to the National Summit for the Canadian Children’s Charter in November 2017.

We simply couldn’t have done this without you! Your support has helped raise awareness that Canada’s children are not alright, and helped build a national movement to do better.

Together, we need to ensure the wellbeing of Canada’s children and the protection of their rights. Thank you for all you do to help give a strong, effective and independent voice for all of our children.

Sara Austin Founder and Lead Director of the Board Children First Canada Launch The kids are not alright

In November 2016, Children First Canada Our report, The Kids are Not Alright, painted a disturbing publicly launched a national movement to picture of what it’s like for kids to grow up in Canada, make Canada the best place in the world for and was a clarion call for action: kids to grow up.

With the support of the Angus Reid Institute and several other partners,[1] we released The Kids are Not Alright – a landmark report One in five (1/5) Canadian children lives in poverty, and on the state of Canada’s children and held a one in four (1/4) indigenous kids live in poverty launch event at the Economic Club of Canada in .

The statistics are chilling because they represent millions of kids from all walks of life More than one in three (1/3) people requiring food that are falling through the cracks. These are assistance are children not just statistics; they are individual children who need our support.

Childhood can’t wait, and we need urgent action today to improve the lives of all of One in five (1/5) Canadian kids has seriously Canada’s kids. considered suicide in the past year Investing in kids today has immediate and long-term benefits for their wellbeing, and sets young people on a path for lifelong health and success. One in three (1/3) of children have experienced some form of child abuse

[1]Our partners for the launch included: The Sandbox Project, UNICEF, Kids Help Phone, Sick Kids Hospital and Foundation, Holland Bloorview Children’s Hospital, CHEO – Children’s Hospital of Eastern , Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, YMCA Canada, University of Toronto’s Fraser One child dies every nine hours Mustard Institute, Policy Wise for Children and Families. from preventable injuries National Speaker Series

We were honoured to launch a national speaker series based on the The Kids are Not Alright report, in partnership with the Economic Club of Canada.

Our first event took place in Toronto in November 2016, moderated byLisa LaFlamme (Host of CTV’s National News) and featuring Kathleen Taylor (Chair of RBC Royal Bank, and Sick Kids Foundation), Hannah Alper (14-year-old activist and motivational speaker), Sara Austin (Founder of Children First Canada), and Sam Yacoub (Youth Ambassador for Children First Canada).

In February 2017, we brought the event to the Chateau Laurier Hotel in . We were delighted to feature Ted Woodhead, Senior VP of Federal Government and Regulatory Affairs at TELUS, alongside the Prime Minister’s Youth Council Member Ashley Whiteman, the Hon. Landon Pearson O.C., and Sara Austin, to discuss the urgent need for action to improve the lives of all of Canada’s children. We were also joined by new partners that are key to advancing the health and wellbeing of kids, including the Canadian Paediatric Society, CAPHC, and the Canadian Teachers Federation.

The Globe and Mail’s André Picard served as the moderator for the Ottawa event, with introductory remarks by Alex Munter, CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) and the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre. The Minister for Families, Children and Social Development, the Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, offered his remarks via video, and we were pleased to include officials from the Minister’s office along with other government stakeholders.

In April 2017, we took the speaker series to , where our event featured Alberta’s newly appointed Minister of Children’s Services, the Hon. Danielle Larivee, alongside Sara Austin, Bonnie Johnson (CEO of the Sheldon Kennedy Child Advocacy Centre), and Toney Bedell (17-year-old youth leader). The event featured a lively discussion on Alberta’s ground-breaking Children First Act and efforts to strengthen provincial and federal public policies to improve the lives of children and youth. Campaign for a National Children’s Commissioner

Children First Canada has been leading a national campaign urging the federal government to appoint a Commissioner for Children and Youth to help drive measurable change on critical issues, including children’s health and safety, and reducing child poverty in Canada.

A children’s commissioner would provide a non-partisan voice to ensure the protection of children’s rights, and measure how far the government has come in their plans to improve the lives of children.

Children First Canada continued to speak out and push for a children’s commissioner to be named through lobbying, news reports, opinion articles, and TV appearances.

We will continue to call on the government to keep its promise to appoint a federal Commissioner for Children and Youth, and to leverage the important work being done by Children First Canada and our partners to develop a robust action-oriented framework to protect children’s rights.

The kids are not alright, and it’s time for Canada to measure up! Let’s put children First! Canadian Children’s Charter & National Summit

In 2017, Children First Canada embarked on an exciting project to create a Canadian Children’s Charter, in partnership with Wisdom2Action. We began by consulting children and youth across the country through a digital campaign, sponsored by RBC. The result revealed a stark reality for kids across our country – children and youth struggle with a wide range of issues such as poverty, bullying, mental health, protection from violence and discrimination. They also shared their thoughts on what it would take to move Canada up the dial to become a world-leading country for kids.

On National Children’s Day, nearly 40 young people from coast to coast to coast gathered on Parliament Hill for the National Summit for the Canadian Children’s Charter. They were joined by adult allies from charities, hospitals, the private sector and government.

We are grateful to our title sponsor, TD Bank Group, our platinum sponsors TELUS and KPMG, along with the many other generous donors who supported the National Summit.

Together, they drafted the Canadian Children’s Charter, which calls on our government and all Canadians to rise to the collective challenge to invest in Canada’s children, and take urgent action to close the gaps. In 2018, we’ll be working to finalize the Charter and put it into action.

The full Canadian Children’s Charter (Draft) can be found at www.childrenfirstcanada.com/canadian-childrens-charter

Youth delegates visited the Prime Minister’s Office and met with Parliamentary Secretary Peter Schiefke

LA CHARTE CANADIAN CANADIENNE CHILDREN’S DES ENFANTS CHARTER Voices of Canada’s Children & Youth

“It pains me to think...that within Canada there are people who aren’t represented the way they should or aren’t given their rights they should. There’s...this idea they do possess those rights but they don’t.”

“We don’t have many opportunities to share our opinions and actually have them impact policies.” Rewan,17-year-old youth delegate from Ottawa

“I think a children’s charter is needed to provide a uniform framework for how children in our society should be treated and viewed. It is necessary to inform children of their rights and hold governments responsible for the abuses made to these rights.” Roman, 10-year-old youth delegate from Calgary

“If children don’t know their rights, then they won’t know when their rights are violated.”

Callum, 14-year-old youth delegate from Halifax, shown here with Toney,17-year-old youth Lyza, 15-year-old youth delegate from Antigonish delegate from Calgary Making headlines!

Throughout the year, we held several major media campaigns to spread public awareness about the urgent needs of kids in Canada, and calling on all Canadians to take action.

The launch of Children First Canada garnered massive media attention, including being a leading story on CTV National News with Lisa LaFlamme, syndicated radio interviews on CBC radio from coast to coast, and coverage in major national and local newspapers.

A total of 165 articles were published or broadcast about the launch through 93 individual news outlets, reaching a total audience of more than 25 million readers. News of the launch also spread widely over social media and was trending on Twitter.

In February 2017, we continued to make headlines with a media blitz focused on our campaign for a federal Children’s Commissioner. The campaign generated a total of 129 articles that were published or broadcast, reaching a total audience of 40.5 million readers.

While the sheer amount of coverage was impressive, what is event more noteworthy is that two of Canada’s largest dailies: The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star, both ran editorials calling for a Children’s Commissioner. The Globe and Mail piece was written by health columnist André Picard, who was a panellist at a Children First Canada’s event. The Toronto Star piece was written by the paper’s editorial board and was widely republished by Metroland Media community online news sites.

We continued to engage Canadians throughout the year, and we reached an all-time peak in November 2017, when we held a media campaign to promote the National Summit and the Canadian Children’s Charter. A total of 261 articles were published or broadcast on this event, reaching a total audience of nearly 52 million readers! Board of Directors strategic Advisors

Sara Austin LEAD DIRECTOR Georgina Black CEO of the Sheldon Kennedy National Leader, Management Consulting & National Sector Child Advocacy Centre Lead for Health KPMG in Canada

Mary Jo Haddad BOARD CHAIR Ilona Dougherty Former CEO of Sick Kids Hospital, and Managing Director, Youth & Innovation Research Project, member of the Board of Directors of University of Waterloo TELUS and TD Bank Group Angela Simo-Brown Head of Social Change Strategy and Innovation at Air Miles Gail O’Brien Loyalty One, and Co-Founder of Air Miles for Social Change Board Director of Sick Kids Foundation, Trustee of the National Arts Centre, Co-chair of the Council for Canadian American Relations, and Former GM of Holt Council of Champions Renfrew Calgary Mike Apkon Stoney McCart Desiree Bombenon CEO, Sick Kids Hospital Executive Director, Students Commission & the President and CEO, SureCall Contact Centres Centre of Excellence for Youth Engagement Owen Charters CEO, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada Valerie McMurtry Christie Henderson CEO of the Children’s Aid Foundation Managing Partner of Henderson Partners LLP Peter Coleridge CEO, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Canada Alex Munter Sarah Laughton CEO, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Kiki Delaney the Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre Wellness and Productivity Coaching, Partner & President, Delaney Capital Stretch Solutions Jacline Nyman Peter Dinsdale CEO of United Way Centraide Canada Lindsay Patrick CEO, YMCA Canada Andrea Stairs Director of Global ETF Strategy, Julia Hanigsberg Managing Director, eBay Canada RBC Capital Markets CEO, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Kathleen Taylor Julia Shin Doi Chair of RBC and Sick Kids Foundation Rick Headrick General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of President, Sun Life Global Investments Rhiannon Trail Ryerson University President/CEO, Economic Club of Canada Marci Ien Broadcast Journalist, and Co-Host of CTV’s The Social Honour rolL [1]

Children First Canada is grateful for our generous donors and sponsors who helped launch a national movement for kids. Together, we can make Canada the best place in the world for kids to grow up!

Visionaries ($75,000 +) Leaders ($5,000 – $9,999)

Gail B. O’Brien Louise Dunlop Lindsay Patrick Julia Foster SureCall Contact Centres Mary Jo Haddad Katie Salem Benefactors ($50,000 – $74,999) Sarabjit Marwah Wisdom2Action TD Bank Group ($1,000 – $4,999) RBC Foundation Champions IWK Health Centre Terry Allen JMP Engingeering Patsy Anderson Nancy MacKellar Paula Coleman Karen Maidment Platinum ($10,000 – 49,999) Joanne Cuthbertson Ann McCaig Catherine (Kiki) Delaney Lisa de Wilde Sherry Schlussel Economic Club of Canada Claire Duboc Donna Scully KPMG Christie Henderson Angela Simo-Brown Shaw Charity Classic Foundation Angela Holtham Mary Suanne Lamont Sick Kids Foundation Sun Life Global Investments TELUS

[1]Donations received to support Children First Canada: November 2016 – November 2017 Children First Canada has a bold and ambitious vision to make Canada the best place in the world for kids to grow up. By harnessing the strength of the many organizations committed to improving the lives of Canada’s children, we are taking the lead in building public awareness and promoting public policies that ensure our children’s wellbeing.

Put children first! Pledge online today. Visit us at childrenfirstcanada.com