Home

About Us

The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada conducts, compiles and presents the latest and most accurate research to ensure that marriage and family-friendly policy are foremost in the minds of Canada’s decision makers.

Family is the foundation of our society. We explore the causes and consequences of family breakdown and of family strength. We want to help Canadian leaders better understand the impact their policies are having on families. After all, what is good for families is also good for our nation.

Our Team

Andrea Mrozek

Executive Director

Andrea Mrozek is the executive director at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada.

Andrea writes and speaks about education, child care, women’s issues and how family life affects the economy, and vice versa. Since joining the Institute in 2006, she has authored a number of influential pieces including Private Choices, Public Costs: How Failing Families Cost Us All about the national public costs of family breakdown, The Cost of a Free Lunch: The Real Costs of the Pascal Early Learning Plan for Ontario, which accurately pegged the cost of all-day kindergarten in advance of the provincial government assessment and Canada’s Top Family Friendly Cities, a national report card showing what makes Canadian cities great for families.

Outspoken on many issues of cultural and economic importance, her opinion pieces have appeared in the National Post, Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Montreal Gazette, Toronto Sun and the Ottawa Citizen, among others, and she’s frequently on TV and radio stations across Canada.

In 2008, she launched the first exclusively female pro-life voice on the abortion issue in Canada with a team of bloggers at ProWomanProLife.org. The team includes an array of young, professional women, all of whom are passionately and proudly pro-woman and pro-life.

She has been an intern at the Fraser Institute and Toronto Life magazine, and thus has a robust prior experience including authoring health care and education policy studies as well as fact checking restaurant reviews and compiling expensive items for luxury shopping guides. Born in Toronto, Andrea has lived in five different international cities, including Calgary, where she worked as associate editor for the Western Standard.

Andrea has a Master of Arts in History from the University of Toronto.

Peter Jon Mitchell

Senior Researcher

Peter Jon Mitchell is a senior researcher at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada.

His research and writing reflect his prior hands-on experience working with youth, focusing on youth and family issues including parental influence on teen sexual choices, family involvement in the youth criminal justice process and education.

He is the author of several ground breaking reports including an examination of Canada’s demographic decline in Canada’s Shrinking Families and a look at the family roots of the homeless in Homelessness and Family Contact. He has also taken on the topic of adoption in Fostering Adoption, an assessment of what might expedite Canada’s difficult adoption environment. Active in the media, Peter Jon comments on youth and family issues for print, radio and television media and his research has been covered by Maclean’s, CBC Radio and Radio Canada.

Peter Jon studied society, culture and public policy issues at the Focus Leadership Institute in Colorado and has a degree in history and political science from the University of Western Ontario. He has earned a Master of Theological Studies and the advanced degree Master of Theology from Tyndale Seminary.

Peter Jon grew up in southwestern Ontario and currently resides in Ottawa. In his spare time, he enjoys paddling, keenly exploring the lakes and rivers of eastern Ontario.

Derek Miedema

Researcher

Derek Miedema is a researcher at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada.

Derek brings a background in political theory and public policy to the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada. He is passionate about the protection of the vulnerable, expertly addressing euthanasia, assisted suicide and end-of-life issues.  He also takes on issues of demographics, education and gambling. In Public Education and Parental Choice, he identified that public school funding is increasing even as enrollment is declining; simultaneously enrollment in independent schools is on the rise. In Government Gambling and Broken Families, he identifies the damage gambling does to families and the contradictory role the government plays in both profiting from gambling and attempting to promote responsible gambling.

Derek has been published in the National Post, Ottawa Citizen and the Montreal Gazette, among other papers, and has made frequent appearances on radio and TV. 

Derek received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Redeemer University College, and a Master of Divinity from Calvin Theological Seminary in Michigan. He is an alumnus of Trinity Western University’s Laurentian Leadership Centre in Ottawa.

Eloise Cataudella

Communications Strategist

Eloise Cataudella is the Communications Strategist for the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada.

Eloise brings a background in design strategy and social research. She has a passion for extracting hidden insights from research and explaining them in a compelling way.

In 2010, Eloise helped to launch Work & Family Foundation Canada, an organization that promotes a healthy relationship between work and family life. She has an interest in work-life integration and the question of whether women can truly have it all. She brought an international study on work-life balance to Canada in 2012 with WFFC and York University. She also created communications for the International Center for Work and Family at IESE Business School in Spain for their global affiliates.

Eloise has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Design in Product Design and Creative Strategy from the Ontario College of Art and Design. She has completed numerous graphic design and product design projects for clients like the Metro Toronto Zoo, Ryerson University and SickKids Hospital.

Born in Toronto, Eloise spent her childhood in Florida and now lives in Ottawa. Her two favourite things in life, though not always in combination, are traveling and spending time with family.

Research Fellows

Kelly Dean Schwartz, Ph.D.

Research Fellow

Kelly Dean Schwartz is a research fellow with the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada.

Kelly researches, writes, and teaches about all areas of child and family development. His expertise includes parent-child relationships, positive youth development, family systems, and the intersection of child, family, school, and community. He is a strong advocate for the use of evidence-based research to understand issues that influence Canadian families, especially as research informs both individual family functioning and wider social policy.

Kelly's light and conversational style have allowed him to engage with Canadians at many levels of public discourse, including national and international scientific conferences (e.g., Canadian Psychological Association, National Council on Family Relations, Society for Research on Child Development), invited seminars and colloquia, and with numerous media outlets (e.g., Metro News, the Calgary Herald, Parenting Today, CBC Radio, QR77 and others).

Born in rural northeast Saskatchewan and raised in central Alberta, Kelly has worked as a school psychologist, in private psychological practice (PsyConsult), and currently serves as Associate Professor of School and Applied Child Psychology and Director, University of Calgary Applied Psychological and Educational Services (U-CAPES), at the University of Calgary.  He serves on the board of several local, national, and international organizations, and he is founder of a small research-based consulting and educational site called FamilyWise. He loves the Philadelphia Flyers, the Riders (the green ones), 80s rock music, and any dark roast coffee that doesn't come in a Starbucks container.

Kelly has degrees from the University of Manitoba (BA) and the University of Calgary (MSc and PhD).

Dr. Frank Jones (1942 - 2012)

Research Fellow Emeritus

Dr. Jones was a significant contributor to the work of the IMFC through his thorough statistical analysis and example as a model lifelong learner. His analysis of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth served as the backbone of several IMFC publications including Growing up married, growing up common-law, Rated PG: How parental influence impacts teen sexual behaviour and Rated PG II: How drugs, alcohol and other factors influence teen sexual activity.

From an accomplished background with years of experience in research and statistics, Dr. Jones was a retired Senior Analyst with Statistics Canada, Adjunct Professor of Economic Science, Université d'Ottawa, and Protestant Lay Chaplain at the University of Ottawa. He served as the Director of Research of the Christian Commitment Research Institute, and member of the Advisory Council on Research of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Frank received his Ph.D. (Economics, 1975) from McMaster University, Hamilton; and his B.A. (Geography and History) from Carleton University, Ottawa.
 
Friends of Dr. Jones at the IMFC will miss his gentle spirit, but are inspired by his legacy of passionate concern for Canadian society.