The Heartland Agency

What The Heartland Agency does

The Heartland Agency is a Calgary-based non-profit organization founded in 1995 by Ilona Boyce, MSW, that delivers early childhood education, special education, and therapeutic childcare services across five owned and operated locations in Calgary (Mayland Heights headquarters, Monterey Park, Signal Hill, Centre 4800, and Westside Rec Centre). Its core offering is the EvenStart Program, a three-year educational and therapeutic intervention for at-risk and developmentally delayed children that combines speech therapy, occupational therapy, play therapy, behavioral support, and family parenting resources within a Reggio Emilia-inspired, trauma-informed environment. The portfolio also includes Special Education (PUF-funded via Alberta Education), Imagine Centre 4800 Daycare (flexible full-time, part-time, and drop-in care for ages 19 months to 6 years), Before & After Care (grades 1-6), and licensed Summer Camps (ages 6-12), supported by door-to-door transportation, an on-site chef, and a low child-to-staff ratio (1:4 in EvenStart).

The organization employs approximately 80 staff — 48 educators, 15 therapy team members (SLP, OT, PT, psychology), and 17 support staff — and serves roughly 308 children, with 227 EvenStart children enrolled at the September intake. Its underlying methodology integrates Reggio Emilia pedagogical principles with brain development research; Zohra Samir serves as a dedicated Reggio Pedagogista (Master's in Early Childhood Education, pursuing Doctorate). Services are delivered through certified teachers and multi-disciplinary clinical teams under the oversight of a Registered Psychologist Clinical Coordinator. Door-to-door transportation addresses the fact that most served families do not have vehicles, and the on-site nutritional program (breakfast, lunch, two snacks daily) addresses food insecurity.

The Heartland Agency generates revenue from three streams: parent fees (e.g., $1,200/month for full-time daycare, $10/hour drop-in, $40 one-time registration, with subsidy and sibling discounts), recurring government funding (Alberta Education Program Unit Funding / PUF for special education), and donations routed through the affiliated EvenStart Children's Foundation of Calgary. Referrals are driven by community partners, speech pathologists, and government children's services, and marketing is minimal, relying on direct community engagement and word-of-mouth. No external investors, parent company, or acquisition activity is disclosed; the organization is founder-controlled and operates as an independent charitable entity.

Name

The Heartland Agency

Legal name

Heartland Agency

Website

https://heartlandagency.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Heartland Agency is a Calgary non-profit founded in 1995 that delivers early childhood education, special education, and therapeutic childcare to roughly 308 children across five locations, using a Reggio Emilia-inspired, trauma-informed approach combined with multi-disciplinary clinical therapy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Calgary

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Childcare and Educational Services Fees: Parent fees for full-time, part-time, and drop-in childcare services. Programs include EvenStart, special education, before/after care, summer camps, and daycare services.
2. Government Funding and Subsidy: Funding through Alberta Education for Program Unit Funding (PUF) for special education. Childcare subsidy accessible for qualifying families.
3. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The nonprofit accepts donations including security blankets, funds, time, talent, and materials. EvenStart Children's Foundation raises community awareness and funds.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Heartland Agency is a Calgary-based non-profit that delivers center-based early childhood education, special education, and therapeutic programs for at-risk and developmentally delayed children. Its core offering is the EvenStart Program — a comprehensive three-year educational and therapeutic intervention combining speech, occupational, play, and behavioral therapy — complemented by Special Education services, the Imagine Centre 4800 Daycare for children 19 months to 6 years, licensed Summer Camps for ages 6–12, and Before & After Care for school-age children, all delivered through five owned facilities in Calgary using a Reggio Emilia inspired, trauma-informed approach.

Product overview

The Heartland Agency offers a portfolio of interconnected childcare and educational programs. The core offerings include the EvenStart Program (a comprehensive 3-year therapeutic and educational intervention for at-risk children), Special Education services, and childcare through the Imagine Daycare Centre 4800. These are complemented by community programs including Summer Camps and Before & After Care services. The programs are inspired by the Reggio-Emilia approach and emphasize holistic child development, trauma-informed care, and family support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• EvenStart Program Comprehensive three-year educational and therapeutic program for at-risk and developmentally delayed preschool children, providing integrated speech therapy, occupational therapy, play therapy, behavioural support, and family parenting support designed to reverse developmental delays using a Reggio Emilia inspired, trauma-informed approach.
• Special Education Special education programming delivered by certified teachers across multiple Heartland locations that modifies the Alberta Education curriculum to meet diverse learning needs within a play-based, Reggio-Emilia inspired environment at favourable child-to-staff ratios.
• Imagine Centre 4800 Daycare Flexible licensed childcare centre for children aged 19 months to 6 years operating from 7am to 5:45pm with full-time, part-time, and drop-in scheduling options; subsidized registration available.
• Summer Camps Six weeks of licensed and accredited summer camp programming during July and August for children ages 6-12, featuring weekly themes and daily offsite field trips around Calgary.
• Before & After Care Licensed and accredited before and after school care for grades 1-6 (children under 13), Monday to Friday, with transportation provided between schools and Heartland sites, and integration with Westside Recreation Centre facilities at applicable locations.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reverse developmental delays from average of 70-90% to within 5% of childhood norms
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Airdrie Project LinusminorOthers · 13 October 2018Non-profit organization providing handmade security blankets to children. Donated bags of lovingly made, prewashed security blankets for every child of EvenStart Mayland Heights. Project Linus mission is to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children in crisis or seriously ill.
• EvenStart Children's Foundation of CalgarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIlona Boyce serves as volunteer Chair. The Foundation works side by side with Heartland Agency to provide needed programs for at-risk and developmentally delayed children. The partnership involves extensive supports to children and families aimed at reversing effects of early adverse childhood experiences.
• Westside Recreation CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResources of the Westside Recreation Centre are integrated into Heartland's Before and After Care programs, keeping children active and engaged through access to the recreation facility.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• BrightPath Early Learning and Child Care: Large Canadian for-profit daycare operator. Not a direct therapeutic peer but a comparable operating benchmark for the Imagine Daycare side of Heartland's portfolio, illustrating the scale and unit-economics ceiling of mainstream licensed daycare in Canada.

Direct peers

• Society for Treatment of Autism (STA) Calgary: Calgary nonprofit providing intensive early intervention for children with autism. Overlaps with Heartland's EvenStart therapeutic services (SLP, OT, behavioral support) and serves a similarly at-risk pediatric population in the same geography.
• Renfrew Educational Services: Calgary-based nonprofit providing educational programming and support for children with special needs and developmental delays. Direct geographic and service-model competitor to Heartland's EvenStart and Special Education programs, serving a similar at-risk population with multidisciplinary teams.
• Calgary Child Development Centre (CCDC): Local Calgary nonprofit providing pediatric therapy (OT, SLP, PT) and developmental support for young children with delays. Operates in the same catchment and competes for the same families and government funding as Heartland's EvenStart program.
• Children's Link Society: Calgary-area nonprofit supporting children with diverse abilities and their families through respite, recreation, and information services. Comparable mission and beneficiary population to Heartland's EvenStart families, with similar government and donation-based funding.

Regional players

• Child Development Centre (Lethbridge and Area): Nonprofit in southern Alberta providing pediatric therapy and early intervention. Functions as a rural-region analogue to Heartland's EvenStart within the same province, sharing Alberta Education funding sources.
• KidsAbility (Waterloo Region, ON): Ontario-based nonprofit delivering therapy, special needs resources, and early intervention programs for children with developmental disabilities. Mirrors Heartland's integrated therapy-plus-education model in a different Canadian province.
• Centre for Child Development (Surrey, BC): Nonprofit in Surrey, BC providing therapy (SLP, OT, PT) and early intervention for children with developmental delays. Closest regional analogue to Heartland's EvenStart model outside Alberta; comparable multidisciplinary clinical staffing and outcomes-driven programming.
• Children's Autism Services of Edmonton: Edmonton-based nonprofit offering early intervention, family support, and therapy for children with autism. Directly comparable clinical service mix to Heartland's EvenStart, with shared provincial context and funding ecosystem (PUF, FSCD contracts).

Broad incumbents

• Easter Seals Alberta: Established provincial nonprofit delivering a broad portfolio of disability services (camp, respite, equipment funding) across Alberta. Larger, broader incumbent that overlaps with Heartland's at-risk child population but lacks Heartland's specialized early-intervention therapeutic intensity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heartland-agency

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Heartland Agency