SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
Tuesday 18th February 2025.
Welcome!
2025 Conference Overview:
Ontario Agencies Supporting Individual’s with Special Needs (OASIS) is a provincial association representing 190+ member agencies that serve over 65,000 of Ontario’s most vulnerable individuals and employ 25,000 full and part-time staff.
We are excited to host the OASIS 2025 Conference from Wednesday 30th April to Friday 2nd May at Blue Mountain Resort.
We are expecting 500+ CEO’s, Executive Directors, Senior Managers and Board Members to attend this in person event and exchange information on the latest innovations and challenges in the Developmental Services Sector. As Ontario’s pre-eminent event for senior executives in this service sector, the OASIS conference brings together the province’s leading organisations. The programme will include a wide range of plenary sessions and workshops, and a number of excellent keynote speakers.
Guidelines for Submission:
We invite you to submit a proposal for a session presentation to be offered at our 2024 conference. We encourage innovative and creative presentations that are grounded and aligned with our goals, objectives and themes for the 2024 Conference. We do encourage you to please still submit a proposal even if your idea doesn't necessarily fit exactly into one of these categories.
Conference Goals Include:
Conference Goal 1: Foster Innovation and Knowledge Sharing
Objective 1: Facilitate interactive sessions that explore innovative solutions and technology advancements in the developmental services sector.
Objective 2: Provide a platform for attendees to exchange best practices and success stories related to implementing individualized supports and inclusive environments.
Objective 3: Create opportunities for participants to learn from real-world experiences, including government policies and their impact, through engaging keynote speakers and panel discussions.
Conference Goal 2: Strengthen Professional Networks and Collaboration
Objective 1: Encourage networking among attendees, agencies, and partners to establish valuable connections within the developmental services eco-system.
Objective 2: Facilitate workshops and breakout sessions that promote collaboration among professionals in leadership, management, and the workforce.
Objective 3: Offer a diverse range of presentations and discussions to cater to the interests and needs of attendees, whether they focus on governance, advocacy, innovation, or ethical concerns.
Themes/Streams:
Topic areas and themes we are wanting to focus on with this year's Conference are:
1. Housing:
Proposals for this stream would showcase creative strategies to address housing challenges for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Suggested topics include inclusive housing models, municipal zoning reforms, agency-led housing initiatives, and partnerships to create accessible living spaces. Share your expertise and solutions to help shape the future of housing for people with IDD.
2. Labour:
Submit a proposal to explore challenges and opportunities in workforce recruitment, retention, and development within the developmental services sector. We’re looking for presentations on strategies for attracting talent, addressing burnout, increasing wages, improving workplace culture, and advocating for system-wide workforce support.
3. Transformation:
We’re looking for proposals that highlight transformation in the sector. Not just the transformation being led by the government through Journey to Belonging but actual person-centred approaches, examples from other jurisdictions that could be replicated here, real innovative service delivery models, and effective changes within your own organisation. Share your insights on fostering meaningful change to ensure sustainable, impactful, and modernized services for individuals with IDD.
4. Health:
Propose a session addressing health-related challenges and solutions for individuals with IDD. Topics may include improving access to primary care, mental health supports, aging, or building collaborations across the Health and DS sectors. Help us explore strategies for closing gaps and ensuring health equity for those with IDD.
5. Hodge Podge:
This is an open call for innovative and diverse topics that don’t fit neatly into other streams. Whether it’s advocacy work, a new programme idea, research findings, leadership strategies, or something completely different, we welcome proposals that inspire dialogue and advance supports for individuals with IDD.
How does it work?
- Complete the application questionnaire in the link below. Connect your idea to one or more of the themes and goals outlined above.
- We encourage you to be creative, innovative, and interactive with your session idea.
- Be prepared for us to possibly pair you up with other applicants who may have similar ideas.
Conclusion:
The OASIS Conference Planning Committee will review all workshop proposals. Because we anticipate far more proposals than available workshop sessions, please note that we may need to combine some proposals with others and that not every proposal can be included in the conference agenda. The deadline for submitting proposals is Tuesday 18th February 2025.
The OASIS will notify you of the status of your proposal as soon as possible following the deadline.
Point of Contact:
For additional information or technical assistance with submitting this form, please contact Jonathan Bradshaw at jonathanbradshaw@contact.oasisonline.ca
To Apply:
Click on the "next" button to complete the following questionnaire.