Collaborative project provides snapshot of children and youth in the community
KINGSTON, ON (October 15, 2025) – United Way Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington, along with community partners, is pleased to announce the release of the 2025 KFL&A Children and Youth Community Profiles report. The report provides specific information by neighbourhood that will support service providers, professionals, and organizations by identifying areas of strength and vulnerability in the population of children and youth.
This report is a collaborative project between many community organizations that came together through the United Way Community Profiles working group which includes; United Way KFL&A , the City of Kingston, Prince Edward Lennox & Addington Social Services, Limestone District School Board, Algonquin & Lakeshore Catholic District School Board and the South East Health Unit.
Community Profiles is part of an ongoing effort to provide population-level data that highlights key factors influencing the health and development of children and youth across 11 distinct planning areas. This report is fifth in a series that focuses on the social determinants of health and early childhood development—factors that research has consistently shown to be strong predictors of future outcomes in health, education, and social well-being.
“Working with our community partners, we are happy to release this report to the public and share this important information and findings,” said United Way President & CEO John DiPaolo. “The information shared in this report is encouraged to be reviewed by anyone that is interested. The hope is that it will inspire collective conversations, research and will reinforce the value of investing in early childhood development and youth programming, as it is a collective responsibility to provide the best possible start for all children.”
The working group hopes that the report will:
- Serve as a planning tool for service providers to facilitate opportunities to respond to identified needs and gaps
- A measuring tool to track improvements in the situation of children over time that will help to prompt and guide further research in this area.
- Initiate ongoing collaborative efforts between community members, groups, and organizations involved in child development.
- Serve as the catalyst in building awareness of the areas of strength and vulnerability that are relevant to the population of children and youth.
- Stimulate community action to help children get the best possible start in life.
This year’s report also offers new features to enhance the readers experience that includes interactive content, data storytelling to make data exploration easier than ever. This updated report includes custom dashboards, digital maps and open data sources – which will be updated as new data becomes available.
Key Findings
- Largest population growth of families with young children (under 10 years of age) was in North West area of Kingston at 32%
- Majority of one-parent families continue to be female-led, over 80%
- Sharing the sixth cycle of Early Development Instrument data for the community from 2023. Data that had been collected across Ontario.
- EDI data indicated 32.7% of children age 5 were vulnerable in one or more developmental health domains in 2023. This is a slight decrease from 2018 when this was 35.8%.
- 21.2% of children at age 5 were vulnerable in the Physical Health and Wellbeing domain – a significant long-term increase from 12.4% in 2006
- 6.4% of children at age 5 reported positive trends in Language and Cognitive development with a decrease in vulnerability from 11% in 2018.
- Increase in the monthly average number of days were children age 5 or in kindergarten have been absent – from 7.8 days in 2018 to 23.4 in 2023
- Increase in the number of children at age 5 that have been identified as requiring further assessment or supports through the EDI.
The full report and dashboard can be accessed here.
The 2025 report is the fifth of its kind. Similar reports were released in 2005 and 2010, 2015 and 2020. More information on past reports can be found on the United Way KFL&A website: https://www.unitedwaykfla.ca/communityprofiles/
About United Way KFL&A
United Way Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington works closely with community partners to ensure that people have the opportunity to reach their full potential and live with hope, dignity, and a sense of belonging. This vision is realized by building on deep-rooted local community knowledge and relationships to empower people to make an impact.
The United Way raises funds for programs that support immediate needs while also tackling complex social issues collaboratively. Led by volunteers, driven by a small professional staff team, the United Way KFL&A is a unifying force, encouraging people to get involved to support our most vulnerable.
Stay up to date by following their social media channels – Facebook, X, Instagram and LinkedIn or visit www.unitedwaykfla.ca
Media Contact:
Mandy Pasch, Director, Marketing and Communications
United Way KFL&A
613-876-3088, marketing@unitedwaykfla.ca
