Mr. John Brennan founded Niagara Training & Employment Agency, or NTEC, in 1970. He had a vision for his son and others with a disability, who were perceived as being unemployable, to reach their full potential and to have productive and rewarding futures.
Today, NTEC provides services to over 150 adults and children with disabilities in the Niagara Region in Employment Supports, Volunteer, Co-op, and Pre-employment programs, and a Children’s Respite program.
A non-profit charitable organization, NTEC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of business and community leaders, including the fields of education and law.
Since 1997, NTEC has had a successful working alliance with Niagara Support Services, each agency bringing their expertise and resources such as finance, human resources, employment services, and horticulture to enhance services in both agencies.
Today the agencies continue to advance the mission of the alliance, “While respecting each agency's corporate identity, Niagara Support Services and Niagara Training & Employment Agency will work together towards the delivery of quality, cost effective supports, services and functions, with the overall goal of providing a broader spectrum of services for people with special needs in Niagara”.
Niagara Support Services has a rich history of providing services and supports to people with a developmental disability.
In 1953, a handful of concerned parents met and agreed to organize for their cause of “NO CHILD FORGOTTEN”. First classes started at the local YMCA with nine students and an all-volunteer staff.
On July 9, 1956, the Agency was officially incorporated by Letters Patent.
In 1960, the Agency began providing adult services through sheltered workshops. In 2015, Ontario began to end provincially funded segregated workshops to help each individual find a new life in the community through employment, volunteering, or other activities.
In 1978, the Agency opened its first group home.
In 1997, the Agency developed a solid working Alliance with Niagara Training & Employment Agency (NTEC), which remains strong to this day.
On March 9, 1998, the Agency had its fifth name change to Niagara Support Services.
Are you a history buff?
Click here to follow the Agency’s complete history – from the commencement of “Developmental Services” in Ontario back in 1839 up to the COVID pandemic. (Note: disturbing terms are used to describe provincial Acts, agency names and people with a developmental disability at different times throughout history.)
