Celebrating Social Work Week in Ontario and Social Work Month 2025 in Canada
In Ontario, we are celebrating Social Work Week March 3-9, 2025. The Ontario Association of Social Workers will be highlighting the many ways that social workers are meeting people where they are at, both literally and figuratively, through life’s challenges and complications. The OASW theme, ‘Wherever you are, so are we’, speaks to the versatility of social workers in meeting people along their life journeys. Social Work Month in Canada occurs in March as well. It honours the invaluable contributions of social workers in fostering resilient communities across Canada while improving individual well-being.
Liz Okai and Danielle Ungara, CWICE Managers, have both been practicing social work for over two decades and share their perspectives on social work, leadership, and the changing landscape in 2025.
Danielle: In child welfare, we aim to safeguard the rights of children and ensure safety and wellbeing. While these remain the core priorities, the field has certainly changed in the time I have been a practicing social worker. As we are working towards system re-design in Ontario, I’m energized by the focus on early intervention, equity, community-based supports, and obtaining the best possible outcomes for children and youth.
As we both lead the only province-wide service teams in Ontario, we have a rich and unique vantage point. Do you have thoughts on the trends you’re seeing in social work and in child welfare across the province?
Liz: Absolutely, Danielle. One of the most prominent trends I’ve observed is the increasing recognition of intersectionality in child welfare practice. Social workers are engaging in more nuanced assessments of how factors like immigration status, race, socio-economic background, and systemic barriers intersect to impact children and families. This has led to a shift in how we approach service delivery—prioritizing culturally responsive practices and ensuring that equity is at the forefront of decision-making.
Another significant change is the growing emphasis on collaboration. We’re seeing deeper partnerships between child welfare organizations, community agencies, and other sectors like education, health care, and settlement services. This holistic approach helps address the root causes of issues families face rather than just treating the symptoms. For example, through CWICE, we’ve strengthened our partnerships with local, provincial, and federal organizations to support children and families with complex immigration challenges, ensuring their legal status doesn’t jeopardize their access to services and resources.
What excites me most is the ongoing conversation about prevention and family preservation. The focus has shifted from crisis intervention to early intervention, which is critical for reducing the need for children to enter out-of-home care. By equipping families and communities with the resources and support they need before a crisis escalates, we’re seeing more positive outcomes for children and youth.
Danielle, as we both navigate leadership roles in these evolving times, how do you think social workers can continue to advocate for systemic change while staying grounded in the practicalities of day-to-day work?
Danielle: Great question! As social work leaders, we always promote balancing a responsibility to ensure advocacy occurs on a day-to-day basis, from the person level to systems level. Our CWICE teams see firsthand the realities and experiences of clients, child welfare professionals, and community members. We work hard collaboratively and creatively to ensure each child and youth, and their family, have barriers removed so they can access streamlined services, have their rights upheld, and have supports and a plan to ensure their goals succeed.
As professionals, we utilize these same insights and observations to inform systemic advocacy. Through analysis, whether data or trends in referrals needs, we integrate this information into our advocacy priorities. For example, when there was a call to support hundreds of families arriving from Afghanistan, we responded to the moment quickly. We began collaborating with 40+ organizations to ensure coordinated and seamless services were immediately available across the Region of Peel and Greater Toronto Area in 2021. This meant weekly then bi-weekly and now monthly meetings, to ensure we could adequately support wide-scale arrivals. Ensuring service providers offered the right services at the right time was critical. Our joint coordination and advocacy efforts helped us better meet the needs of new community members arriving. For us, it was an absolute pleasure to meet and respond as proactively as possible to families arriving. Learning together with community-based agencies further strengthened our collective responses and meant we were all equipped to pivot quickly effectively.
In a different situation, we heard about an emerging concern from service providers worried for the safety of unaccompanied and separated children arriving from Ukraine in 2022. Using our service knowledge, we held consultations with partners and stakeholders. We were able to develop immediate and systemic recommendations that would ensure the safety and wellbeing for all unaccompanied and separated children arriving across Canada. This work has been taken to the policy level by federal immigration agencies and the discourse continues today.
Our day-to-day work is heavily grounded in service at CWICE. This informs the research we have embarked on as well and is another form of our advocacy. For example, we just completed our first community-based research project exploring digital equity in settlement services. That report will be released shortly. We’re proud of that work with Peel Newcomer Strategy Group and Peel Multicultural Council, to ensure settlement services are inclusive and client-centred.
In all advocacy initiatives, we make efforts to partner with community leaders and changemakers in a strategic manner. We’re currently exploring ways to make additional policy recommendations that would enhance permanency in Canada for children and youth in out-of-home care. We’ve identified legal experts and community partners and will continue to develop a plan through 2025. It’s this dual pursuit —serving individuals while advocating for broader system transformation—that truly ensures our efforts achieve impact.
Typically, social workers are distinctly positioned to bridge the space between individual advocacy efforts and system-wide advocacy efforts. We have a deep understanding of individual experiences and larger systemic forces. This duality can also empower us to remain focused, even in rapidly changing times, such as the times we are in now. Is there any specific change, or anticipated change, you are keeping on your horizon, Liz?
Liz: That’s such a thoughtful perspective, Danielle. I completely agree with you about the importance of bridging individual and systemic advocacy, and I love how you highlighted the tangible examples from CWICE’s work. One specific area I’m keeping on my horizon is the intersection of child welfare with immigration reform and global mobility patterns. As Canada continues to welcome newcomers, asylum seekers, and international students, the child welfare sector will need to stay adaptable to address the unique challenges these families face.
For instance, we’re seeing more cases where children are caught in complex cross-border situations—whether it’s due to precarious immigration status, family separation, or legal barriers to accessing services. This is why the work CWICE does, like developing training for frontline workers, is so critical. The goal is to ensure every child, regardless of their status, has equitable access to safety, permanency, and well-being.
Another change I’m anticipating is the integration of technology into social work practice. With the rise of digital tools and platforms, we have an opportunity to enhance accessibility for families and streamline services. But with that comes a responsibility to address digital equity, as you mentioned. It’s not enough to simply offer services online; we have to ensure that families, especially those in vulnerable situations, have the tools and literacy to access them.
Lastly, I’m keeping a close eye on the ongoing conversations around diversity, equity and inclusion within child welfare. The sector has made strides, but we still have a long way to go in addressing systemic racism and biases that disproportionately affect racialized families. The move towards community-based solutions and culturally appropriate practices is promising, but it will take sustained effort and accountability to truly transform the system.
Danielle, you mentioned the dual pursuit of service and advocacy—how do you see the role of mentorship in helping the next generation of social workers carry this forward?
Danielle: Thank you, Liz, you’ve provided a powerful reminder of the need for adaptability, especially as we navigate cross-border complexities, digital equity, and systemic inequities.
Mentorship is critical in transformational work because knowledge is power (or empowerment). Within the profession, mentorship allows experienced social workers to share strategy, contextual knowledge, historical knowledge, while transmitting the values and resilience needed. This creates opportunities for sustainable practices embedded in equity and rights-centering, as well as ensuring advocacy at individual and systemic levels occurs simultaneously. As service providers and leaders, we absolutely need the fresh perspectives of those joining the profession. They help us identify new opportunities and this co-construction of practice knowledge is really the continuous learning cycle associated with excellence and innovation.
I really want to thank you for taking time to reflect with me on these important topics. I know we’ll be speaking together at a special event to celebrate Social Work Week on March 7th. I look forward to continuing the conversation with you and those who are able to join us in discussion!
Liz: Thank you, Danielle – your reflections on mentorship and the co-construction of knowledge resonate deeply with me. I truly believe that fostering these intergenerational partnerships in social work is the key to creating sustainable change and ensuring our practices remain innovative and inclusive. It’s through collaboration and shared learning that we can continue to amplify the voices of those we serve and advocate for a more equitable future.
I’m equally excited about our upcoming event on March 7th during Social Work Week. It will be such a meaningful opportunity to engage with our colleagues and reflect collectively on how we can continue to adapt, lead, and inspire within this evolving field!
To register: CWICE Celebrates Social Work Week Webinar Tickets, Fri, Mar 7, 2025 at 10:00 AM | Eventbrite
Did you know?
There are an estimated 55,000 registered social workers in Canada
Ontario has the largest number of social workers in Canada, with nearly 20,000 registered professionals.
Employment in social work is projected to grow by 12% by 2030 due to increasing demand for mental health support and services for seniors.
Social workers are involved in over 90% of child protection cases in Canada.
These points underscore the critical role social workers play in creating positive social change.
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