Discipline Committee of the

College of Early Childhood Educators

In the case of NICOLE ANNE BRUNELLE, Registration #131867

Panel

Lois Mahon RECE, Chair Katie Begley RECE Tam Mifsud RECE

Appearances

Prosecutor for the College of Early Childhood Educators: Vered Beylin Representative for Nicole Anne Brunelle: Nicola Simmons Independent Legal Counsel: Lonny Rosen

Hearing date: January 14, 2026

Decision and reasons

This Panel of the Discipline Committee allowed the College of Early Childhood Educators to withdraw the accusations of professional misconduct that had been made against Nicole Anne Brunelle (the "RECE").

Procedural steps

A hearing was held on January 14, 2026. No publicly appointed Council member was available to participate in the hearing. The Prosecutor and the RECE both consented before the hearing to go ahead with the hearing with an improperly composed panel as allowed by the Statutory Powers Procedure Act. Based on their consent, we agreed to hold the hearing today with a panel including two elected Council members and one roster member.

Accusations of professional misconduct

The RECE was accused of professional misconduct¹ as defined in subsection 33(2) of the Early Childhood Educators Act (the "ECE Act")² and its Professional Misconduct Regulation³, in that she

• physically abused a child who was under her professional supervision
• psychologically or emotionally abused a child who was under her professional supervision
• failed to maintain the standard of the profession⁴ including
  • failing to be knowledgeable about a range of strategies that support ongoing positive interactions with children and families
  • failing to engage in supportive and respectful interactions with children to ensure they feel a sense of security and belonging
  • failing to work in partnership with children, families and colleagues to create a safe, healthy and inviting environment that promotes a sense of belonging, well-being and inclusion
  • failing to know the current legislation, policies and procedures that are relevant to her professional practice and to the care and education of children
  • failing to model professional values, beliefs and behaviours with children, families and colleagues, and/or she failed to understand that her conduct reflects on her as a professional and on her profession at all times
• acted or failed to act in a manner that, having regard to the circumstances, would reasonably be regarded by members as disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional
• acted in a manner that is unbecoming a member

Request to withdraw the accusations

The Prosecutor asked us to allow them to withdraw all of the accusations against the RECE.

The Prosecutor explained that the RECE signed an Undertaking to

• complete two courses, Challenging Behavior: Positive Guidance in Child Care and It's Not Easy – It's About Following the Child
• work with a mentor for 5 sessions to discuss the
  • College's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice
  • accusations against her, to be treated as hypothetical
  • possible consequences of the accusations, again to be treated as hypothetical, on the affected parents and children, on the RECE's colleagues, on the profession, and on herself
  • courses listed above
  • strategies to prevent "re-occurrence of the alleged acts or omissions, which should be treated as hypothetical"

The RECE also agreed that if the panel allows the College to withdraw the accusations of professional misconduct, this will be noted on the public register. The notation would state: "On [date], the Discipline Committee agreed to withdraw allegations of professional misconduct against Nicole Anne Brunelle."

The Prosecutor said that the RECE denies guilt in this case, and there are no established facts about the RECE's conduct. The accusations are only accusations.

The Prosecutor requests to withdraw the accusations because the RECE successfully completed steps to improve her practice that were included in the remedial undertaking. The RECE's mentor commented in their report that there was positive engagement from the RECE, as well as growth and reflection. The Prosecutor said that this, along with a notation on the public register, is transparent and protects the public.

The RECE's lawyer said that the RECE cooperated with the College throughout the process. She continues to deny the accusations and still completed the terms of the Undertaking in good faith, diligently and successfully. That she completed the steps quickly demonstrates that she took her requirements seriously. Withdrawing the accusations would be in the public interest. She asked that if we agree to allow the accusations to be withdrawn, we include in our decision these points and the fact that she was not found guilty of professional misconduct.

The Prosecutor said she did not object to any of the RECE's comments.

Why we allowed the withdrawal

The Prosecutor described why children and the public will be protected through withdrawal of the accusations of professional misconduct that were made against the RECE. We agree that the proposed resolution will protect children and the public.

Although the Panel heard no evidence about the RECE's conduct and therefore did not find that the RECE committed professional misconduct, we feel that by completing the terms of the Undertaking, the RECE showed that she took concrete steps to address the concerns raised by the accusations, regardless of whether they would have been successfully proven at a hearing. We believe the RECE has shown a commitment to learning and improving and can safely continue to practice.

We are satisfied that public protection has been achieved by the courses and mentorship that have already been completed. We were comforted by the RECE's commitment to the coursework and mentorship. The mentor's feedback was valuable information to support our decision that the public interest is protected and that the accusations can be withdrawn.

We were further comforted knowing that this decision and our reasons would be made public. This transparency lets other RECEs and the public know that we carefully considered this case and the RECE's undertaking to address the accusations of misconduct. We want the public to be assured that the College is willing and able to regulate RECEs.

For these reasons, we agreed to the request to withdraw all of the accusations of professional misconduct in this case.

I, Lois Mahon, RECE, sign this decision and reasons for the decision as Chair of and on behalf of the members of the Discipline panel.

January 14, 2026

Lois Mahon, RECE

Date

Footnotes

1. 1These accusations are detailed in the Notice of Hearing dated December 29, 2025.
2. 2Early Childhood Educators Act, 2007, S.O. 2007, c. 7, Sched. 8.
3. 3Professional Misconduct, Ontario Regulation 223/08.
4. 4College of Early Childhood Educators’ Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.