How to file a complaint

If you have concerns about the health and safety or well-being of children attending a licensed home or centre-based early learning and child care program, a good first step is to connect with the operator or early childhood educator working in the program.

If the problem does not get resolved this way you can make a formal complaint to the Department of Education, Culture and Employment’s Early Learning and Child Care division.

The complaint process is confidential to ensure that complainants feel comfortable coming forward to share concerns regarding licensed operators. In addition, the confidential process supports licensed operators and allows the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to follow up and work with the operator, where appropriate, to address any concerns regarding non-compliance. Although we will not provide information about the identity of individuals making complaints to operators during investigations, depending on the nature of the complaint and specific details that may need to be addressed, it may be obvious where the complaint originated.

It is also important to note that if a complaint requires that the Department involve other agencies such as the RCMP or Child Protection, it may not be possible to protect identities due to the requirement for complainants to provide witness testimony in the event that legal action is required.
 

The Government of the Northwest Territories licenses, funds and inspects early learning and child care programs, but does not dictate individual business-related policies to independent operators, except where required by NWT legislation.

Policies such as terminating care, refunding of fees and who operators elect to provide care for, are outside the scope of legislation. We encourage program operators to follow best practices when developing, implementing and communicating procedures and policies to their clients.

Contact your Early Childhood Consultant regarding legislative requirements for licensed early learning and child care programs prior to making a formal complaint, please see contact information by region.

You can file a complaint by filling out our online form below or by downloading the form and providing it to a legislative compliance coordinator through Secure File Transfer link.

If you believe that a child has been or is likely to be harmed while in the care of a licensed home or centre, immediately contact your regional Early Childhood Educator.

Operators of licensed early learning and child care programs are required to be in compliance with the Early Learning and Child Care Act, the Early Learning and Child Care Standards Regulations, and the Early Learning and Child Care Funding Regulations, at all times. Complaints that fall under NWT legislation are investigated and followed up on through additional support to operators to ensure that they understand the legislative requirement, their role and responsibility related to that requirement, and where necessary, regional Early Childhood Consultants will conduct additional unscheduled visits to the program to monitor ongoing compliance.

The Department of Education, Culture and Employment takes all complaints seriously. We will investigate complaints that are covered by the Act and Regulations, such as:

• Supervision and staff-child ratio concerns
• Behaviour guidance concerns
• Staff documentation (First Aid, CPR-C, Criminal Record Check with Vulnerable Sector Search)
• Transportation of children
• Use of alternate caregivers/substitutes

Unless there is an allegation of a violation of the Act or Regulations, we will not investigate complaint concerns regarding:

• Termination of care
• Refund of deposit
• Waitlist concerns
• Contractual issues between operators and families

Complaints related to contractual issues which are not violations of the Act or Regulations are not investigated by the Government of the Northwest Territories as they are related to administrative policies specific to private businesses. When individuals contact us with concerns related to their contract with a licensed early learning and child care program operator, they will be referred back to the contract details and what was agreed to when signing the contract. The expectation is that operators are following the contract terms with the families who use their services. In the event that a breach of contract occurs, families may elect to take an operator to small claims court to address their concerns.

The Government of the Northwest Territories only follows up on complaints regarding unlicensed operators where concerns regarding the number of children present contravenes NWT legislation. In the NWT, any operator providing care for five or more children of any age or more than two children under two years of age must be licensed.

The steps taken by the Government of the Northwest Territories in the complaint investigation process are determined by the nature of the complaint received and the information that is brought forward. Complaints that do not immediately impact the health, safety and/or well-being of children are addressed within five working days, unless the complaint is serious enough in nature to warrant an immediate program visit (example: a serious injury on playground equipment that may impact additional children if not addressed immediately).

If the licenced operator fails to meet the legal requirements of legislation, we may issue a formal written notice outlining the area(s) of non-compliance and the necessary corrective actions. Failure to address these issues could result in the suspension of their licence.

If we believe there is an immediate risk to the health and safety of the children in care, we may suspend the operator's licence without notice. This gives us time to gather more information and help the operator fix the issues putting the children at risk. Once the operator corrects any problems, they can apply to have their licence reinstated. However, their licence may be revoked if they fail to do so in the timeframe specified.

If an operator's licence is suspended or revoked, they must close their home or centre immediately and are ineligible to own or operate a licensed early learning and child care home or centre in the NWT unless their licence is reinstated, or they are granted a new licence.

If you provide your name and contact information, we will contact you to let you know if your complaint will be investigated, and if an investigation is conducted, you will be informed in writing of whether the complaint was found to be substantiated or not, what legislative non-compliance was noted and that it has been addressed. Specific details related to the investigation and required follow-up will not be provided to complainants.

This information is being collected under the authority of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy (ATIPP) Act, section 40(c)(i) and the Early Learning and Child Care Act and Early Learning and Child Care Regulations. The information is being collected for the purpose of investigating concerns and/or providing follow up. The privacy provisions of the ATIPP Act protect information, and all applicants have the right to examine and request correction of his or her records and to request a review by the Information and Privacy Commissioner. If you have any questions about the collection of the information, contact the Director of Early Learning and Child Care, Department of Education, Culture and Employment at 867-767-9354.

Please note, if you wish to receive a written response from the Government of the Northwest Territories, you must provide your name and contact information. Providing this information will allow the regional office to confirm with you that the investigation has been conducted. You will be provided with confirmation of whether non-compliance was noted during the investigation and that corrective action has been taken. This level of information will also be posted publicly on the Early Learning and Child Care Program Directory.

Licensed operators will not be provided with information regarding the identity of complainants; however, it is important to note that they may be able to discern the source of a complaint based on the specific details required to be provided. Additionally, if outside agencies are required to be notified (ex: RCMP, Child Protection) it may not be possible to protect a complainant’s identity if processes require legal action that includes the requirement for witness testimony as part of the investigation.