About CMAS

Sharing expertise in newcomer childcare and supporting settlement.

CMAS is Canada’s leading organization that focuses on caring for immigrant and refugee children. We take a great deal of pride in sharing our expertise with immigrant serving organizations and other organizations in the child care field.

We identify gaps in service and work to create solutions; establish and measure the standards of care; and support services for newcomer families through resources, training and consultations.

CMAS History

CMAS—an organization funded through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)—was founded in 2000 to monitor and support the childminding services offered alongside Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) English as a second language programs. Hence the name CMAS, Childminding Monitoring, Advisory and Support.  Since then, the organization has helped programs to move from childminding model into the care for newcomer children model that exists today, so the word childminding is no longer used.

Over the years, the organization has continually evolved to better meet the needs of immigrant and refugee families. Not only has CMAS built standards and requirements, but it has also designed models for monitoring and supporting programs. This includes working with stakeholders from across the country to develop an even more flexible model of care called Care for Newcomer Children (CNC). CNC features high safety standards and also focuses on programming, language learning, creating an inclusive environment, and managing the effects of culture shock. CNC meets the unique needs of children who are new to Canada. It also allows immigrant serving organizations to choose the type of care that best suits the needs of the newcomers they serve: long-term, short-term or combined care.

Over the years, CMAS developed and delivered:

  • training – over 50 different workshops have been offered to caregivers and administrators, both within and outside of the settlement sector.
  • resources for CNC administrators and staff, and other professionals who wish to better serve immigrant families and provide high quality child care.
  • conferences for CNC Staff and LINC Childminders.

CMAS Today

CMAS is known in the child care community for their expertise in:

  1. identifying gaps in service for immigrant and refugee families and working to create innovative and cost effective solutions.
  2. establishing and measuring standards of care in child care programs—particularly those which serve newcomer children.
  3. supporting child care services through training and resources.

Find out more about ‘How CMAS Makes a Difference’

CNC Research

Research in Canada and globally has shown that Care for Newcomer Children (CNC) is an innovative model for the delivery of early learning and child care (ELCC) for newcomer children and families. 

Here are some examples of research and lessons learned through CNC.