Meeting Plan

Child Care Now is looking forward to hosting the Child Care Advocacy Assembly on November 18 and 19, both in-person (in Ottawa) and online. The focus of the National Child Care Advocacy Assembly will be on renewing our national advocacy strategy from now until 2025/2026. Note: This meeting plan may change as discussions unfold. Our experienced facilitator will guide us well.

You can also view this meeting plan using Google Docs by clicking on this link here.

Saturday, November 18, 2023

8:30 am 

• Participants in Ottawa assemble for a light breakfast and informal mingle
• Who’s in the room activity

9:30 am 

• Quick briefings on current work/projects related to ELCC 

10:00 am

• Official start including welcome of those joining on-line 
• Land acknowledgement
• Child Care Now Presentation: Why we’re here, and what we hope to get from the Assembly. Plan for the two days

10:15 am

• Lay of the land – what we’ve achieved and the current situation (panel followed by short plenary discussion)

11:00 am

• Break

11:15 am

• Small groups, answering two questions:
  1. What are three big successes the child care movement has achieved since the 2021 federal budget?
  2. What are three big problems the child care movement must address between now and 2025-26?

12:30 pm

• Break 

1:15 pm

• Quick briefings on current work/projects related to ELCC¹

1:30 pm 

• Plenary discussion: building on discussion in small groups, what strategic policy demands will move Canada-Wide ELCC system forward between now and 2025-2026?

2:30 pm

• Break

2:45 pm

• Dialogue with federal officials about the Canada-wide ELCC system, how it is unfolding, and how advocates and government can work together for change (to be confirmed).

3:45 pm

• What next?  Group activity to determine policy demands leading up to next federal election

4:30 pm

• Wrap up – check in activity

Sunday, November 19, 2023

8:30 am

• Participants in Ottawa assemble for a light breakfast and informal mingle

9:30 am 

• Quick briefings on current work/projects related to ELCC (see footnote below)

10:00 am

• Welcome participants joining on-line
• Recap of Saturday and our key policy demands leading up to next federal election
• Plan for Sunday

10:30 am

• Strategy discussions in groups; each group will be assigned one of the following questions to answer:
  1. What must we do to increase our numbers and our capacity to advocate effectively?
  2. What must we do to better coordinate advocacy directed at provincial/territorial and federal policy makers?
  3. What are all the opportunities and threats ahead of us?

11:30 am

• The Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development

12:15 pm

• Break

1:15 pm

• Strategy discussions in groups continued; each group will be assigned one of the following questions to answer:
  1. What tactics can we deploy to get the attention of governments?
  2. What must we do to expand our group of allies including those concerned with equitable access?
  3. What more could we do to encourage action by the early learning and child care sector (educators/staff, directors, boards of directors, others)
  4. What can we do to encourage action by the public sector (municipalities, school boards, publicly funded institutions)
  5. What more can we do to encourage action by employers, business interests, others?

2:15 pm

• Synthesis of our advocacy strategy and follow-up commitments
• Final words

3:00 pm

• Adjournment

We thank our partners and sponsors, including Women and Gender Equity (WAGE) Canada, event organizers, advocates, local facilitators, and beyond for making the Child Care Advocacy Assembly as accessible as possible. // Nous remercions nos partenaires et nos commanditaires, notamment Femmes et Égalité des genres Canada, les organisatrices de l’évènement, les membres du mouvement pour la défense des services de garde, les animatrices et animateurs locaux, etc., grâce à qui cette assemblée sera le plus accessible possible.