Everyone has a shared responsibility to foster children's potential and build family and community resilience

The Ontario Early Adversity and Resilience Framework is a call for collective action across sectors to work together to develop innovative and meaningful solutions to prevent adversity, strengthen protective factors, build resilience, and support healing in families and communities.

Focus Areas:

1. Socially Connected, Equitable, and Inclusive Communities
2. Social and Emotional Development and Resilience
3. Reproductive Health and Parenting/Caregiving Readiness
4. Responsive and Culturally Safe Parenting/Caregiving

Who we are

The Ontario ACEs and Resilience Framework was compiled by a working group of the ACEs and Resilience Community of Practice (ACER CoP), convened by Public Health Ontario. The ACER CoP is made up of Public Health practitioners, community partners, and leaders from across Ontario who are involved in Healthy Growth and Development, Child and Family Health, Healthy Babies Healthy Children programs, and other work related to early adversity or resilience initiatives.

For more details, read the Ontario Early Adversity and Resilience Framework, also available in French Ontario Adversité et Résilience Précoces Cadre.

For more details, read the condensed graphic summary of the Ontario Early Adversity and Resilience Framework.

Topic Summaries

These brief summaries were created to support understanding of the connections between early adversity, resilience and other health and well-being topics. They are designed to spark creativity and collaboration, and to highlight additional evidence that was beyond the scope of the Ontario Early Adversity and Resilience Framework. The Framing Messages about Early Adversity and Resilience for Community Leaders tool provides guidance on how to talk with community leaders about early adversity and resilience. 

Connections between early adversity, resilience and:

• CHRONIC DISEASE
• CLIMATE CHANGE
• EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND RECONCILIATION
• FOOD, FEEDING and NUTRITION 
• INFANT FEEDING (0-6 MONTHS)
• MENTAL HEALTH
• SUBSTANCE USE
• TRAUMA-AND VIOLENCE-INFORMED APPROACHES
• CHILD CARE - coming soon
• GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE - coming soon
• INJURY PREVENTION - coming soon
• PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - coming soon
• POVERTY - coming soon
• SCHOOL HEALTH - coming soon
• SEXUAL HEALTH - coming soon
• BUILT ENVIRONMENT - coming soon
• CHILD WELFARE - coming soon

This framework supports communities and decision-makers in Ontario by:

• Promoting evidence-based strategies to prevent adversity and promote resilience.
• Explaining complex concepts to make them more accessible and easier to understand.
• Building shared understanding and a common language around the drivers and impacts of adversity, and ways to build community resilience.
• Encouraging community action that fosters collective responsibility and cross-sector partnerships.
• Increasing impact to strengthen the effectiveness of initiatives that address adversity and resilience.

*We developed this framework by adapting the Fraser Health Authority report called: A Health Promotion Strategy to Prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Foster Resilient Children, Families and Communities.

For questions about the framework, please contact the Co-chairs of the PHO ACEs and Resilience Community of Practice:

Emily Martyn and Becky Warzin