In 1903, at the request of the Minister of Education, Mrs. Adelaide Hoodless called a conference of the Ontario Teachers of Domestic Science and Art to be held at the University of Toronto. The stated object of the conference was “to discuss the advisability of organizing a Section of the Ontario Education Association for the consideration of subjects bearing upon Home Economics and Domestic Art.” As a result of this gathering, a section by the Council of the Ontario Education Association was formed. Of the eighteen teachers attending this conference, nine paid the fee of fifty cents, the amount decided upon for active membership. Mrs. Hoodless was elected president, Miss F. Curzon the Vice – President, and Miss Grace Roberts the secretary of this, the first session of what was later known as the Home Science Section of the Ontario Education Association.

From 1920, the section became known as the Household Science Section. Over the years, attendance increased and at the same time, the types of work in which the members were engaged became more varied.  This was the case to such an extent, that the major interests of the larger portion of the group centred around the problems inherent within the domestic sciences in secondary education.  As a consequence, in 1927 the Household Science Section asked the privilege of affiliating with the recently organized Household Science and Arts Subsection of the Technical School Section. With this request having been granted, the Household Science Section as a separate section ceased to exist.

In 1938, the official name of the organization was changed to the Home Economics Section of the O.E.A.  In 1972, the Family Studies Home Economics Association of Ontario was incorporated and was an affiliate of the O.E.A.  In 1977, the name was changed to its present name – Ontario Family Studies Home Economics Educators’ Association. The mission statement of the association was written in 1989 “with the ultimate goal of strengthening the family, the role of OFSHEEA is to initiate and facilitate the professional development and personal growth of educators to promote quality family studies programs in Ontario.”