New policy brief on aligning immigration and child care workforce strategies
Child Care Now has released a new policy brief on the role of immigration in Canada’s ELCC sector written by Dr. Yolande Pottie-Sherman as part of the Educator’s Matter project. The brief explores the intersections between immigration policy and early learning and child care policy, a topic that was identified as a key workforce issue by the National Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Workforce Policy Table.
Aligning immigration and child care workforce strategies for an equitable, sustainable, and high-quality early learning and child care system provides an overview of available immigration and migration data related to the ELCC workforce, the current policy context, and identifies areas of concern related to working conditions and treatment of migrant and immigrant ELCC employees.
The brief proposes how immigration policy could better support the ELCC workforce and promote high-quality early learning for children and families across Canada.
In order to effectively support immigrant and migrant ECEs and the broader ELCC workforce, the brief recommends:
- Improving compensation and working conditions for all ELCC workers;
- Explicitly prioritizing qualified ECEs in federal, provincial, and territorial immigration programs;
- Granting permanent residency on arrival to internationally-recruited ECEs;
- Maintaining clear pathways to permanent residency for international students graduating from accredited, high-quality Canadian ECE programs;
- Making the credential recognition process more transparent and providing accessible post-secondary options for Canadian certification;
- Developing a cross-sector national workforce planning and data strategy to track the recruitment and retention of immigrant ECEs, and
- Developing and expanding communities of practice and immigration-focused resources in the ELCC sector to support newcomer ECEs.
Currently, the Canadian ELCC sector is changing rapidly, as is immigration policy. This brief will be used to support policy discussions with governments and to advocate for strong investments in compensation, training, and working conditions to support a sustainable workforce.
Dr. Pottie-Sherman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Memorial University. She has published extensively on immigration, diversity, and social infrastructure in Canada. In October 2025, Dr. Pottie-Sherman presented her preliminary research at the Educators Matter National Symposium, discussing issues and considerations for immigration in the context of ELCC workforce expansion and shortage. The slide deck can be downloaded on the National Symposium page.
About the project
Educators Matter is a three-year project by Child Care Now, dedicated to advancing collective knowledge on Canada’s early learning and child care (ELCC) workforce. The project aims to develop policy solutions that address the retention and recruitment crisis and support the implementation of a high-quality Canada-wide ELCC system.
More information about the project can be found here.