If Roots of Empathy was taught everywhere in the world there would be no war or bullies. Everyone would be able to respect and understand their own feelings and also other people’s feelings. Roots of Empathy would be able to change the world making peace and there would be no harm. I think that it could change the world forever.”

 

- Grade 6 student, Roots of Empathy

Roots of Empathy began in 1996 as a pilot program reaching 150 children in the Toronto District School Board. In 2000, the program began to spread across the country and by 2005 Roots of Empathy was active in nine provinces. In the fall of 2011, every Canadian province is taking part in Roots of Empathy as children in Saskatchewan schools gather around green blankets for the first time. To date Roots of Empathy has reached more than 450,000 children across Canada.
 
Over the last 16 years, more than 18,000 babies with the Roots of Empathy program have been the youngest teachers in Canada’s classrooms. A similar number of volunteer parents have learned more about the key role they play in a child's development. Many thousands of classroom teachers have learned about their students' emotional lives and witnessed first-hand the power of helping children to develop social and emotional literacy. 

Roots of Empathy has benefited from generous financial and partnership support from a wide range of individuals, governments, corporations, community organizations and foundations. Our early supporters included the Atkinson Foundation, Lawson Foundation, Maytree Foundation, the Rotary Club of Toronto and the federal government's National Literacy Secretariat.  In addition, the provincial governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario as well as the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation and Merrill Lynch have been major contributors.

Hundreds of community agencies in Canada contribute instructors, mentors, or local program coordinators (Key Point People) to bring Roots of Empathy to the children in their local areas. Thousands of non-teaching school board staff have been trained as program instructors. Roots of Empathy's instructor certification is highly valued in education, health, social service, and related fields, and the training provided is a significant capacity building investment in Canadian communities. 

The program is delivered in English and French, and in urban, rural, Aboriginal and remote communities. In 2011-12, more than 58,000 children are participating across Canada, in approximately 2,350 classrooms. 

Roots of Empathy has a strong commitment to Aboriginal children and a long tradition of offering programs in Aboriginal communities. There are more than 500 Roots of Empathy programs reaching Aboriginal children nationwide: on First Nations or in schools with high Aboriginal populations. We work in partnership with Aboriginal leaders, Elders and community members across the country and have been endorsed by the Assembly of First Nations. 

Roots of Empathy is committed to providing equitable access to its program in the French language. Our programs have been running in French and French immersion classrooms since 2005 with a dedicated French curriculum, and today French Roots of Empathy programs reach children across the country.