Grandview Kids has actively taken steps this year to enhance staff resilience and mental health. Through the 2026 Learning Needs Assessment, we identified “Mental Health First Aid” as required training for all leaders and selected roles, and we are working toward certifying internal facilitators to deliver it. Additionally, we partnered with our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider, Arcora, to host lunch-and-learn sessions focused on health and well-being topics relevant to our staff.

Our internal committees contributed significantly to supporting the well-being of Team Grandview. Throughout the year and at our biannual all-staff events, the Connection Committee organized inclusive activities that encouraged staff to connect, develop and participate in positive, culture-enhancing experiences.

The IDEA Committee also continues to foster an inclusive and psychologically safe environment. They share best practices with other Children’s Treatment Centres through Empowered Kids Ontario (EKO), representing Ontario’s child development and rehabilitation sector, and collaborate with community partners. The IDEA Committee leads “Reconcili-action Moments” at the start of each All-Staff Huddle. These moments aim for Team Grandview to acknowledge the harm colonization has had on Indigenous communities, which has persisted for generations, and discuss how we can take action to support Indigenous people in our community. The committee also organizes internal celebrations that honour the diversity of Team Grandview and those we serve.

In 2026, Grandview Kids introduced a standard performance management strategy, supported by an updated and approved Learning and Development Policy. The People and Culture Manager and People and Culture Advisor Lead completed the program’s assessment, scope and goals, and the Senior Leadership Team sponsored the initiative. Early communications in Grandview Kids’ internal Weekly Updates and at All-Staff Huddles explained the process, expectations and timelines. We developed Grandview Kids-specific online learning, mandatory for leaders and optional for staff. The learning covers the review process, how to identify and craft SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals and encourages a self-leadership approach to performance.

To support the rollout, leaders and staff received tools explaining the evaluation process, competencies and rating criteria, and could attend optional drop-in sessions to help complete performance reviews. Leader competencies now include timely participation in and completion of performance reviews. In August 2025, the “Coaching Conversations Workshop” with Feldman & Daxon gave leaders practical skills for performance and coaching conversations that help staff do their best work.

Clinical Excellence Days

The expertise of Team Grandview was on full display at our inaugural Clinical Excellence Days held in April 2025. From strategies to inform sensory-safe classrooms to seeking assent in therapy sessions, the Clinical Excellence Days were a reminder of the strengths of Team Grandview. We heard from Senior Research Associate, Dr. Meghann Lloyd, and Research Associate Dr. Fiona Moola.

We had more than 30 presenters, including both internal clinicians and external researchers, showcase their excellence through workshops, tutorials and poster presentations. We had about 150 clinicians attend the event, including students, over two days. 

Lunch & Learns

Throughout the year, the Research & Innovation Committee hosted five Lunch & Learn sessions designed to strengthen staff knowledge, promote evidence-informed and person-centred practice, and encourage reflection on equity and inclusion in rehabilitation services. Topics included the lived experiences of racialized parents accessing pediatric rehabilitation, updated Gestalt Language Processing practices, incorporating assent to support client autonomy and engagement, behaviour and regulation strategies, and the experiences of racialized parents of children with disabilities in Ontario. Collectively, these sessions supported interdisciplinary learning, encouraged critical reflection on current practices and provided staff with knowledge and practical strategies to enhance client engagement, autonomy, inclusion and equitable access to rehabilitation services.

Research student supervision and capacity building

The Research Team supervised five research students from Ontario Tech University, supporting the development of research capacity while advancing projects aligned with Grandview Kids’ priorities in pediatric rehabilitation, innovation, accessibility and family-centred care.

These projects provided students with hands-on experience conducting applied research within a pediatric rehabilitation environment while enabling the Research Team to investigate innovative technologies, evaluate existing programs and explore opportunities to strengthen family-centred and inclusive care.

Through student supervision, Grandview Kids strengthened research capacity and supported the development of emerging researchers while generating knowledge relevant to clinical practice, program evaluation, accessibility and innovation. The projects also created opportunities for research findings to inform future service development, clinical practice and organizational priorities.

In February 2026, Grandview Kids launched a new “People and Culture” model that gives leaders more efficient access to consultation, guidance and direction from the People and Culture team, grounded in leading practices. Leaders can now draw on the expertise of People and Culture Advisors aligned by client group, a Health and Safety Lead, corporate Organizational Learning and Development and Total Rewards. We also completed learning and development needs assessments with all leaders to identify role- and department-specific needs, and we added the gaps we found to our corporate learning matrix so we can build on our leaders’ knowledge. In-house Solution-Focused Coaching, a strengths-based, relationship-centred and goal-oriented approach, has also remained accessible to strengthen the leadership capacity of Team Grandview.

We also launched the Leadership Excellence Certification Program in April 2025 in partnership with Ontario Tech University. All current leaders took part, and aspiring leaders applied and were selected through an impartial, thorough review process. Participants completed ten in-person courses facilitated by Ontario Tech University, and the program concluded in March 2026.

“It is always a pleasure to work with groups who are invested, intentional and interested in learning. And my experience with the leadership program at Grandview Kids personified these qualities. Not all groups have these advantages.” – Diana Kawarsky, President, Soft Skills Group Inc. | Facilitator, Leadership Excellence Certificate, Ontario Tech University

“In supporting collaborative environments, my role is often to foster such an environment as a foundation for substantive conversations about such complex issues as accountability and performance. It was great to see such a collaborative working culture already in place.” – Chris Irwin, Principal, Measure of Success | Facilitator, Leadership Excellence Certificate, Ontario Tech University

We celebrated the graduates at our July 2026 All-Staff Huddle, where we shared which staff participated in the program, the courses taught and their key takeaways. This investment sets our current and aspiring leaders up for success, equipping them with the expertise needed to lead high-performing teams.