Dress Purple Day

Every October, children’s aid societies and Indigenous Child and Family Well-Being Agencies (child welfare agencies), together with their community partners, raise awareness about the importance of supporting vulnerable children, youth, and families through the provincial Dress Purple Day campaign. 

Dress Purple Day 2024 is on Friday, October 25.

We invite all Ontarians to wear something purple to show children, youth, and families that they are here to help!

Open Letter to Premier Ford

As part of this year’s campaign, we wrote an open letter on behalf of organizations dedicated to supporting children, youth, and families across the province. They include municipalities and non-profits, as well as organizations in child welfare, immigration and refugee services, integrated youth services, mental health care, community health, child development and rehabilitation, child and family services, intellectual and developmental disabilities, hunger relief, housing, and social work. 

We are calling on the Ontario government to take immediate action to ensure community-based organizations and service providers across the province have adequate resources (i.e., funding, staff) to truly respond to the needs of children, youth, and families.

Campaign Toolkit

Download our toolkit to find out how you can participate in this year’s Dress Purple Day campaign, including writing a letter to your MPP to advocate for investments in social infrastructure to support children, youth, and families across Ontario.

Social Media

Poster (11 x 17)

Poster (8.5 x 11)

Additional Resources

Find Resources and Supports

We know that the kinds of challenges that families are facing are wide-ranging, from food and housing insecurity to mental health and addictions to intimate partner violence. We have put together a list of resources and supports that will hopefully serve to show that there are lots of places to turn to when you, or someone you know, is in need of help.

Dress Purple Day Prevention Classroom Resources

Dress Purple Day offers an important opportunity to raise awareness among elementary, middle, and high school students about their right to safety and well-being. To support this important goal, and in response to inquest recommendations, we have developed provincial classroom prevention resources to support teachers and education professionals to engage with their students in conversations about safety and well-being in all aspects of their lives and to help them identify their networks of support.

Dress Purple Day is different. Here’s why:

“Why it’s not Child Abuse Prevention Month anymore…”

Logos of OACAS and BOOST (in English)

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