Notable Vanier Alumni


Lila Hope-Simpson

LILA HOPE-SIMPSON: CHILDCARE INNOVATOR AND RENOWNED CHILDREN'S AUTHOR

Lila Hope-Simpson attended Vanier College from 1971 to 1974 graduating with her Diploma in Special Care Counseling. From there, she went on to teach children with special needs in Montreal and British Columbia and then moved to Nova Scotia where she studied Adult Education and received her equivalency in Early Childhood Education. Lila was the recipient of a special Prime Minister's Award presented to her in 2004 by Paul Martin as well as the Marianna Dempster Memorial Book Award for her contributions to children's literature in 2006. She also writes a regular column on parenting in The Advertiser. Lila has been the Owner-Operator and Director of the Home & Heart Child Development Centre since its inception in 1995. The Centre is committed to offering a holistic child development program which meets the individual needs of each child and family.

In 2004, Lila was the recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education in Ottawa for her outstanding program and her contribution to the field. The award acknowledged her exceptional work and notably her creation of a certificate course for home care providers, as well as several resources for parents, such as the Tots to Toddlers handbook.

Lila is seen at right accepting her award from then current PM Paul Martin.

You can view her Award page from the official Prime Minister's web site.
Lila Hope-Simpson
Click for the "Fiddles and Spoons"" web site

Lila is also the author of a delightful children's book entitled "Fiddles and Spoons: Journey of an Acadian Mouse" which portrays the expulsion of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, as seen through the eyes of a family of mice living in Grand Pre. Read a review of her book.

She was awarded the Marianna Dempster Memorial Book Award from the Canadian Author¹s Association (Atlantic Branch) for her contribution to children's literature in 2006. She is currently completing a novel for adults and several children’s books.

Lila lives on the South Mountain, overlooking the beautiful Gaspereau Valley, near Wolfville, Nova Scotia, with her husband, Ian Hope-Simpson, who is an artist-blacksmith. She has three children, Rudi, Jasmine and Natasha.
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