Newfoundland and Labrador news — on September 23, two provincial ministers put $200,000 behind Commit to Kids Newfoundland, the child-abuse prevention training program for school staff. The goal: train 1,000 more people across the kindergarten-to-Grade-12 system this year — teachers, administrators, student assistants, even bus drivers — on top of the 1,140 already trained since 2024.
By Maplestime Education Desk | Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada | September 24, 2026
Sources: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Education News Canada | Last updated: September 24, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Newfoundland and Labrador is spending $200,000 from the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence to expand Commit to Kids Newfoundland training to 1,000 more K–12 school staff this year.
- The Commit to Kids Newfoundland funding was announced September 23, 2026, by the Honourable Lela Evans, Minister of Women and Gender Equality, and the Honourable Paul Dinn, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development.
- Training covers recognizing the signs of abuse, understanding behaviours that put children at risk, responding when a child shares a concern, and creating safer environments.
- Since the program was first offered in the province in 2024, 1,140 people supporting grades 7–12 have been trained. The program was created by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and is supported by the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association.
- The training pairs with a new trauma-informed health curriculum covering healthy relationships, consent, personal boundaries, and gender-based violence prevention.
What Commit to Kids Newfoundland Training Actually Covers
Commit to Kids is an online child-safety training program built by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection, and it is deliberately practical. Commit to Kids Newfoundland teaches school staff how to recognize the signs of abuse, understand the behaviours that may put children at risk, respond appropriately when a child shares a concern, and build safer environments for children and youth.
That last point matters most. The program is not about turning teachers into investigators — it is about making sure the adults children see every day know what to look for and what to do in the moment a child reaches out. In Newfoundland and Labrador it carries the backing of the provincial teachers’ association, the NLTA.
Who Gets Trained: 1,000 More Staff This Year
This year’s Commit to Kids Newfoundland expansion goes wider than the first round. The goal is 1,000 more people across the full kindergarten-to-Grade-12 system — not just classroom teachers, but administrators, student assistants, bus drivers, and other school staff. The logic is straightforward: a child might confide in the bus driver before the teacher.
The first wave of Commit to Kids Newfoundland, running since the program launched in the province in 2024, trained 1,140 people supporting grades 7–12. Add this year’s 1,000 and more than 2,100 trained adults will be working inside the province’s schools.
Where the $200,000 Comes From
The money flows from the National Action Plan to End Gender-based Violence — federal funding aimed at stopping gender-based violence before it starts, with schools as one of the front lines.
“Every child deserves to learn and grow in a safe and supportive environment. This investment will ensure that more educators and school staff throughout Newfoundland and Labrador have access to training that helps them identify risks, support children who may be experiencing abuse, and contribute to a culture of safety and respect.”
— The Honourable Lela Evans, Minister of Women and Gender Equality
“Creating safer schools starts with giving teachers the tools they need to support students.”
— The Honourable Paul Dinn, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development
A New Health Curriculum Lands Alongside It
Training adults is only half the strategy. Newfoundland and Labrador’s new health education curriculum takes a trauma-informed approach to healthy relationships, consent, personal boundaries, communication skills, and social-emotional well-being — including age-appropriate lessons on gender-based violence prevention: intimate partner violence, exploitation, grooming, coercion, and online safety.
As Commit to Kids Newfoundland grows, the province’s Task Force to End Gender-Based Violence has already received a presentation from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development on the new curriculum, as the two efforts — trained staff and taught students — are designed to reinforce each other.
Maplestime will provide updates from this story as new announcements are made.
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Training more than 2,100 school staff is a genuine start — but is it enough for the moment a child actually speaks up? Tell us in the comments. And share this with every Canadian who believes a school should be the safest place a kid knows.
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