speech language pathologist

occupational therapist

communications assistant

therapist

physiotherapist

KidsAbility Centre for Child Development

KidsAbility was my dream job for many years. The organization had a strong sense of purpose, dedicated staff, and a positive work culture. Unfortunately, all of that changed with the arrival of the new CEO.

Since her leadership began, the focus has shifted away from quality service and staff well-being. The priority now seems to be rapid client turnover, rather than meaningful, sustained support. The culture has become unstable and, frankly, fearful, especially for those in management. Speaking up or advocating for quality care is no longer welcomed, and many seasoned, respected staff have either been walked out or felt compelled to resign.

Over the past year, numerous managers and frontline staff, some with over 20 years of experience, have left the organization. The loss of this collective knowledge and passion has been deeply felt by those who remain.

The recent KidsAbility *changes* were handled so poorly by management. Staff told they needed to drive to another site, just to be told point blank, without empathy, they were terminated. They weren’t allowed to go back to their desk or home site to gather their things and were walked out like they did something wrong. Staff are worth so much more than this and should’ve treated as such.

If you’re considering a position here, I strongly recommend looking elsewhere. There are better environments that will value your voice, your expertise, and your well-being.

KidsAbility is a place I wanted to work since I started working with children- it was the leading provider of Autism services in the KW region. I had heard amazing things about the culture at work, job security and the overall support from upper management. While my job itself was incredibly fulfilling and I was proud to be a part of a team that was serving our community and making a difference in the lives of families and children, KidsAbility has now lost sight of their core values upon arrival of the new CEO and team of Vice Presidents. There is minimal empathy and support for the work we do and staff are treated as disposable. It feels like there is a group of people making uneducated decisions about services and programs that they know nothing about, not thinking about the impact these decisions will have on the families and children in our community, as well as their employees. The events of the last few days completely reframed how I thought about this organization and how excited I was to finally be a part of it. It now seems the focus is shifting away from client care and shifting towards making more profit, which is the opposite of what this company should be standing for. 

KidsAbility has some incredibly dedicated and skilled clinicians who truly care about the children and families they support. The frontline staff are passionate, collaborative, and make a real difference every day.

Unfortunately, the senior leadership team is out of touch with the realities on the ground. Their focus seems to be more on business metrics than on the actual treatment of children. There is a growing disconnect between leadership and staff, which has resulted in a toxic work environment where many talented individuals have chosen to leave—some without having other jobs lined up, simply to escape the dysfunction.

Despite the increasing turnover, senior leadership often downplays or ignores the departures, failing to address the root causes or meaningfully engage with staff concerns. Morale is low, and there's a lack of transparency and genuine accountability at the top.

I would not recommend KidsAbility as a workplace unless there are significant changes in leadership and organizational culture.

KidsAbility was the first place I'd ever worked that I thought, "this is the place I want to retire from someday". The first to make me feel like a valued member of something bigger, rather than an insignificant cog in a corporate machine. It was the best place I'd ever worked and even on the hard days I was happy to be there.

Over the past year, however, that feeling of being valued, being more than a number, has vanished. Current (senior) leadership has gutted something that was so very special and turned it into just another toxic workplace, where everyone is expected to do more more more while losing payroll at the same time. The demands are more than what can reasonably be accomplished, legitimate concerns are brushed off or ignored, and staff morale is in the garbage. Long time employees are leaving in droves. 

If you had asked me a year ago, I would have said KidsAbility was the BEST place anyone could work. Now? Now I would warn people away from even applying. 

And that is truly heartbreaking.

I used to really like it there, the staff are amazing and a lot of upper management was pretty wonderful to work with. 

Unfortunately, over time, my manager and I got along less and less, and this led to me missing opportunities, feeling left out of important conversations and overall, to me feeling miserable, constantly stressed and burnt out. There was no positive re-enforcement on what I did well, so most of my meetings were just waiting to see if there was something to criticize. Even when performing a service, I was rarely acknowledged or thanked for my contributions.

I didn't feel like the values that I loved and supported coming into the organization were being upheld anymore. I heard from many employees that they also faced a lack of communication and clarity from their upper management as well. 

Overall, I enjoyed the work I did, but by the end of my employment, the lack of room for growth, the lack of effective leadership and the lack of transparency made me feel very unsupported and unable to leave a very positive review.

When I started at KidsAbility I saw myself spending most of my career there. I loved the work that I did, had amazing colleagues, a phenomenal team, and a manager I trusted  and could rely on. 

Then by early-mid 2025 I loved the work that I did, had amazing colleagues, a good team, and a manager who only saw me as a work horse and who I didn't trust with anything. The new CEO, and the senior leadership team she has assembled, are bound and determined to turn KidsAbility into a "business" at the cost of employees and clients. Moral has tanked, 50+ employees departed in a little over a year, and things have gotten so bad they have stopped acknowledging departures publicly and have tried to clamp down on any discussion of people who left. They don't care about current staff, and they won't care about future staff. 

We are all heart-broken to see everything that has happened, but we've been ignored every time we've brought forward concerns, including to the board. 

I worked here for quite some time, and it’s heartbreaking to see how far things have fallen under the current senior leadership, especially with the CEO at the helm. To be clear, the issue isn’t with the program managers, clinical managers, or associate directors—they're doing their best. The real problem lies with senior leadership.

This used to be a supportive, mission-driven workplace. Now, clinicians are leaving in droves, morale is at an all-time low, and staff voices are ignored. Despite repeated concerns, leadership has refused to engage or make meaningful changes.

Compensation has never been competitive, and with no added benefits or real support, the work environment has become toxic. When serious concerns about leadership were brought to the board, they were dismissed without action.

It’s painful to see a once-great organization unravel from the top down. If you’re considering joining or staying, think carefully about the toll it may take on your mental health and professional growth.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The clinicians at KidsAbility truly care about supporting the children and families, however this can be hard without proper support back from upper management. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Lack of understanding from senior leadership regarding what is needed for clinicians to do their jobs to the best of their ability. It was often very clear how little senior leadership understood about what it means to be a children’s treatment center and the clients we serve. Many threats of layoffs and poor management of money leading to very low job security. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The clinicians became not only colleagues but great friends. The disconnect between front facing staff and senior leadership is so large and no steps taken to improve this.

Lots of Instructor Therapists in the Autism Program have left in the last few months-year. It’s a toxic working environment, and management isn’t addressing the concerns of current or past Instructor Therapists.  Many resignations have happened because of  poor supervision by some BCBA’s. Upper management’s method for dealing with these BCBA’s is transferring them to another site or program, which is not fixing the underlying problem. There’s a lot of gossip, hostility, and favouritism regardless of which site you work at. There are poor professional boundaries, with managers/supervisors directly managing their friends. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working at this company was the coworkers and clinicians who put their hearts into client care. Unfortunately for us,  delivering quality standard of care was not something that was prioritized by the senior leadership. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The lack of understanding by the senior leadership who are making company wide decisions is astounding, and do not seem willing to want to better understand. For a company specializing in child development, it is now completely money driven. Allocating raises to senior leadership and cutting front-line staff. Pushing quick client turnovers. I no longer became proud to work here.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Speech language pathologist 4 salaries reported	$41.73 per hour
Occupational therapist 13 salaries reported	$41.51 per hour
Communications assistant 6 salaries reported	$27.23 per hour
Therapist 2 salaries reported	$30.26 per hour
Physiotherapist 3 salaries reported	$41.72 per hour

Working at KidsAbility Centre for Child Development: company overview and reviews

KidsAbility Centre for Child Development

KidsAbility Centre for Child Development ratings

Popular jobs at KidsAbility Centre for Child Development

Salary satisfaction

Job seeker tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected