10 days for $10aDay: reach out to your MP

Child Care for All

Speak to the people with power to make the change

Look up your MP and their email on the Parliamentary website.

Dowload this in PDF format

Prepare

  • Write down the main things you want to say in advance and stick to your notes (see key messages below)
  • MPs respond most to personal and emotional stories. Decide on what story about the $10aDay Plan you want to share.
  • Your story can be used to make the points you want to make.
  • Limit your points to just three points.
  • Don’t take a long time to tell your story and make your points; leave time for a real conversation with the MP.
  • Decide in advance what action you want the MP to take
  • Find others to join you in the conversation if you can but not too many because the more people in the meeting with you the less time each of you will have to share your stories and make your points. Having a conversation on your own is also fine although having company often makes it easier.

At the meeting

  • Right at the start, introduce yourself and confirm how long you have for the meeting. Take the lead. You asked for the meeting, so you can lead the conversation. 
  • Share your personal story about $10aDay child care and use the story to make the points you want to make (for example, your personal story may be about being on a wait list and this can illustrate your point that the $10aDay Child Care Plan must be expanded by a bigger not smaller public investment in building new facilities, especially in communities that have too few).
  • Decide who will say what in your team and how you will stay within the allotted time. Decide who will take some short notes. Have copies of the materials (see links to other Resources below)

Some background on the current context

  • In 2021 the federal government announced that it would invest $35 billion over 5 years (March 2021-March 2026) to build a primarily not-for-profit and public early learning and child care (ELCC) system in Canada.  
  • It is regularly referred to as the ‘$10aDay Child Care Plan’, with its goal to achieve $10 a day child care for children aged 0-5 across all provinces and territories by March 2026. 
  • The Plan, however, is about much more than bringing down parent fees. The Plan is to make affordable early learning and child care accessible and available to all over time.
  • The Plan also involves investments in the  early learning and child care workforce, making distinct provisions and taking specific measures to ensure Indigenous children have access to programs and services; raising the quality of programs and services.

Key messages

  • We like the $10aDay Child Care Plan. We want more of it. 
  • Licensed child care is much more affordable because of the parent fees under the plan. This has been life-changing for those who have been able to enroll their children. However, the supply of licensed child care does not meet the demand for affordable programs. Too many parents are on waitlists. 
  • The solution to this problem is to increase the number of licensed child care spaces. Governments at all levels must develop concrete plans to build and staff new facilities and to expand existing programs whenever and wherever possible.
  • The $10aDay child care plan raises the quality of early learning and child care by ensuring there is accountability for public funding. Public funding can only be spent on items that are part of the cost of delivering high quality early learning and child care.
  • The $10aDay Child Care Plan increases child care options for parents by making child care more affordable and expanding licensed child care spaces in both centres and home child care.
  • More public funding is needed to strengthen the workforce and to support expansion of the system. 

What we want

  • Commitment from governments and political parties to stick with the $10aDay Child Care Plan and strengthen it.
  • More public funding to significantly improve the working conditions and compensation of early learning and child care educators and other staff. 
  • Public planning and a capital funding program to increase the supply of not-for-profit and public early learning and child care programs.

Other useful resources

Download this in Microsoft Word format

Dear [insert the name of your MP. If you don’t know who your MP is or how to contact her/him/them, use this look-up tool]

My name is [insert your name] and I live in your riding. 

I am writing to you to express my support for the federal $10aDay Child Care Plan because it is starting to make licensed early learning and child care programs more affordable and accessible. I am concerned that if the plan is stopped rather than strengthened, families, parents, early childhood educators and communities will be denied the promise of high quality early learning and child care services for all.

I am personally very concerned about this issue because ____________ [explain in one or two sentences why you feel strongly about strengthening and expanding the $10aDay Child Care Plan].

I ask that you:

  • commit to prioritizing the expansion of the $10aDay Child Care Plan so that more families will have access to, and be included in, affordable licensed programs; and 
  • use your voice and influence to improve the wages, benefits, and working conditions of those who work in early learning and child care so that they are properly compensated and valued for all that they do in support of children and families. 

[If you are able to meet or speak with your MP, close with this request here. End your message by asking for a quick response.]

Sincerely,

[Do not forget to sign off with your full name and contact information]

Further resources:

  • Points you may wish to include in your message or conversation with your MP
  • If you meet in person or virtually with your MP, here is a sample follow up message to send after your discussion
  • If you received a reply and/or have a discussion with your MP, let us know about it by writing a short message to info@childcarenow.ca
Download this document in Microsoft Word format

Dear [insert name of MP],

Thank you very much for taking the time to meet with me on [date] to discuss the child care situation in my community, and in Canada. 

Child Care Now, Canada’s national child care advocacy association, along with Canadian families and advocates across the country, are hosting Ten Days of Action for $10aDay Child Care from November 20th to 30th.

I/we hope you will join us in: 

  • Celebrating the early successes of the $10aDay Child Care Plan: All across Canada, families are benefitting from reduced fees and new funding for their centres and home child care programs. Educators and staff in many provinces and territories are benefiting from improved conditions and wages, which have a direct impact on the quality of care for children
  • Supporting the expanding and strengthening of the $10aDay Child Care Plan. The $10aDay plan is so popular that waitlists for affordable licensed child care are long and growing. Many families and children want to be included but there are not enough licensed spaces. Availability is especially limited for infants, children with disabilities, and for children in rural, northern and isolated communities. 

I/We ask you for a commitment to support:

  • Investment in new capital infrastructure that prioritizes public and not-for-profit expansion; and 
  • Investment in the workforce through wage grids and benefits to properly pay and recognize the valuable work of early childhood educators and staff.

We also invite you to:

Yours sincerely,