Not-For-Profit Charity

The Hanen Centre is a registered Canadian not-for-profit charitable organization (#11895 2357 RR0001). Since it was founded in 1975, the organization has been committed to addressing two pressing social problems:

  1. Increasing prevalence of children with language, social communication and literacy delays
  2. Limited access to critical early intervention services

Research shows that early childhood language and social communication delays can have a lasting impact on children’s futures, and that the earlier these children receive the intervention and extra support they need, the better their outcomes will be.

Inspired by emerging research showing the positive impact parents can have on their child’s language development when they receive training and support, The Hanen Centre pioneered what’s now known as parent-implemented early language intervention. Since its inception, Hanen has developed a series of evidence-based training programs and resources for parents and early childhood educators. Our goal is to empower the important adults in a young child’s life to build the child’s best possible social, language and literacy skills in the context of enjoyable everyday interactions.

How The Hanen Centre operates

The Hanen Centre operates as a social enterprise and does not solicit donations to support itself. Rather, we focus on revenue generation from the workshops we deliver to professionals around the world and from the sale of Hanen resources. To have as far-reaching an impact as possible, The Hanen Centre trains speech-language pathologists/therapists and other professionals around the world to use the Hanen approach with families and educators in their own communities.

All the revenue generated from the sale of our workshops and resources supports our operations and allows us to invest in program, resource and workshop development, as well as the provision of clinical support for our thousands of members.

Transparency and Accountability

The Hanen Centre reports to a board of directors that generously volunteers their time to ensure that we achieve our mission with accountability and transparency.

Government Support and Funding

Around the world, governments, public institutions and school boards have chosen to support and incorporate The Hanen Centre’s evidence-based programs and trainings into their early childhood initiatives.

We gratefully acknowledge funding from the following agencies:

  • The Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, which funds The Hanen Centre to:
    • Provide speech and language services for children and families in The South Geographic Service Area of Toronto's Preschool Speech and Language Program.
    • Provide subsidized training and support for speech-language pathologists and supportive personnel in Ontario’s Preschool Speech and Language Program.
  • The City of Toronto, Children’s Services Division, which funds Hanen training and support for Early Childhood Educators in Toronto.