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New report released: Statistics Canada survey on provision of child care services 2024

A new report released by Statistics Canada highlights findings from the Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services, 2024. The report indicates that 46,986 operators provided child care services to 1.1 million children under the age of 12 across Canada in 2024. 

The report categorizes the provision of child care services into three categories: licensed centre-based child care, licensed home-based child care, and unlicensed home-based child care. 

Seventy-one percent of licensed centre-based child care providers reported that they had received public funding through the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program.  

The  majority of children (almost 83 per cent) captured in the survey data were enrolled in licensed centre-based child care.

Some other report highlights include: 

For-profit centres growing faster than not-for-profit

The number of for-profit centres has grown more than not-for-profit centres. In 2012, not-for-profit centres represented 65 per cent of all centres, compared with only 55 per cent in 2024. Since 2013, it’s reported that 1,567 new not-for-profit centres have been established, compared with 2,697 new for-profit centres. 

Notably, not-for-profit providers are more likely than for-profit providers to have supports in place to serve the needs of children with a long-term condition or disability, with 81 per cent of not-for-profit providers, compared with 67 per cent of for-profit providers reporting they have accommodations or supports in place.

Unlicensed child care more precarious

Over 42 percent of unlicensed child care providers indicated that they did not intend to provide child care services in the next three years. Approximately 27 percent of unlicensed home-based child care providers reported that they are unlicensed because they do not not plan on providing care for long enough to make it worthwhile. 

Low educator qualifications and engagement in professional development compared with 2022 survey 

Worryingly, between 2022 and 2024 there was a seven per cent increase in early learning and child care (ELCC) staff employed in licensed centre-based child care without any early childhood education training. The 2022 survey data reported that almost 30 per cent of full-time staff providing direct care to children had no ECE-related training while in 2024, that number rose to almost 37 per cent. 

Equally concerning, in 2024 just over 53 per cent of unlicensed home-based child care providers have no-ECE related training, whereas 11 per cent of licensed home-based providers have no ECE-related training.

The recent report also shares that the majority of licensed centre-based child care and licensed home-based child care providers offered some type of professional development in child care-related training to staff with only 13 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, offering no professional development. Almost 74 per cent of unlicensed home-based child care providers did not engage in professional development. 

What the data tells us about the provision of child care services in Canada

It’s worth noting that the Statistics Canada report relies on surveys between April and June 2024. The sample of respondents was drawn from Statistics Canada’s Business Register and publically available provincial and territorial lists of child care providers. The report notes that it may not capture child care centres in schools that provide before and after school care as this is underrepresented in the data. This has the potential to skew some reporting. Overall, the data contributes to other jurisdictional and administrative data to help track and monitor the impact of policies on child care providers.