Setting the record straight on Canada’s $10 a day Child Care Plan

January 30, 2025

Since its implementation, the $10 a Day Plan has received ongoing media attention, from supporters and critics alike. It is unfortunate that some critics have used and manipulated data to inaccurately suggest that the program is not working. In doing so, these commentators have spread misinformation and disinformation about various elements of the $10 a Day Child Care Plan, including the number of spaces created.

A recent blog by economist and child care policy expert Gord Cleveland corrects some of the misinformation and disinformation about early learning and child care in Canada.

Importantly, Cleveland shows the flaws in a policy brief by Cardus, a socially conservative think tank, published in November 2024. Cardus claims that the federal government’s program to reduce parent fees is benefitting only 29 percent of children. However, as Cleveland points out, Cardus’ finding is based on data for 0-12 year olds when data for 0 to 5 year olds should be used. This is because  the federal child care plan is aimed at families with children under 6 years of age. 

Drawing on data from Statistics Canada’s 2023 Canadian Survey on Early Learning and Child Care and other sources, Cleveland reports that 42% of children 0 to 5 years (or just under 1 million children) are using licensed child care. Cleveland also points to evidence showing parental preference for licensed over unlicensed child care options, and that licensed child care is providing strong support for parental employment. He writes:

“59% of parents (mostly mothers) whose main activity is working at a paid job or business already use licensed child care for their young children.  Many others – another 115,000 who are on a waiting list – would like to use licensed child care and will happily do so when more supply becomes available.”

Debunking the myth about universal versus targeted child care programs

Cleveland also counters Cardus’ inaccurate claim that low-income families don’t benefit from publicly-funded and government-supported universal child care. Drawing on evidence from Quebec – not to mention a large body of international evidence – Cleveland highlights that low-income families are more likely to access licensed child care supply through a publicly supported universal system than they are through market-driven child care supply.

Cleveland reports that the 2023 Statistics Canada survey of parents shows that Quebec’s directly subsidized government child care program, which has been in place for a much longer period of time than Canada’s $10 a Day plan, services a relatively higher proportion of low-income families (68 per cent for Quebec compared with 36 per cent for the rest of Canada). The primary reason for this is that Quebec’s system provides public funding to licensed child care operators and requires that they keep parent fees low. In the rest of Canada, parent fees are higher because fee caps under the $10 a Day Child Care Plan have not been fully implemented across the country.

While recognizing there is still a lot of work to be done to increase the availability of $10 a Day child care programs, Cleveland’s post concludes that Cardus’ proposal to get rid of the federal $10aDay Child Care Plan and replacing it with child care allowances to families will only worsen the problems of access and affordability for families. The evidence-based way forward should instead be the expansion and acceleration of the federal program to provide affordable, accessible and quality child care for all.