A research article, published in the Canadian Publications of Crown College of Canada, affirms the “substantive” achievements of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) program. Through review of available data and existing policy in Canada and two comparison countries – Australia and Germany – the authors make compelling recommendations for ELCC in Canada.

Policy impact assessment demonstrates program achievements

The authors’ policy audit asserts that improvements to CWELCC  should build on the accomplishments of the program, namely:

• Improved affordability, evidenced by a 31% real decline in the childcare price index over four years;
• Measurable labour-market effect, with labour-force participation of mothers of young children reaching 79.5% in 2025;
• Continued federal investment at a scale, which “signals durable political commitment across jurisdictions of differing political composition;”
• The program has submitted itself to independent scrutiny¹, demonstrating the governments’ willingness to “identify gaps.” 

Incorporating a comparative element to their audit, the authors conclude that Canada’s approach to affordability by directly reducing  fees is more effective than the demand-led Child Care Subsidy in Australia, which is less effective in capping fees and is more likely to result in inefficient use of public funding. 

While Germany’s use of an ‘entitlement’ (where every child has a legislated right to a child care space) goes some way to addressing accessibility, the authors explain that “funding entitlements must be paired with local capacity plans and correcting mechanisms” because “rights alone do not produce equal access”.

Australia’s National Workforce Strategy dashboard is identified as a useful tool for tracking progress, and offers a practical accountability model.

Recommendations offer tangible policy tools to advance  Canada’s ELCC goals

The authors make four recommendations “achievable within CWELCC’s existing legal and fiscal architecture.. The recommendations are broad ranging, addressing the well-documented issues in the rollout of CWELCC, including the need for coordination and planning; investment in workforce; funding allocations that support equity in access; and data collection and monitoring with built in accountability measures. The recommendations are to: 

1. Establish a national access, workforce, and equity Compact that sits under the National Advisory Council, with membership including federal, provincial, territorial, municipal, Indigenous, educators, provider, disability, official-language, and family representatives.
2. Create a protected workforce-stability reserve created through an allocation of 20% of the additional $5.4 billion recently announced by the federal government and require the reserve to be used to stabilize the workforce  through wage grids, benefits, paid sick leave, planning time, practicum support, credential recognition, professional learning and targeted rural and Indigenous workforce strategies.
3. Allocate expansion through a child care access and equity Index, a mechanism that would allocate funding based on child population, verified waitlists, infant demand, income, rurality, transportation, disability related demand, official-language needs, newcomer settlement patterns, and non-standard schedules. The authors  propose that 15% of the two-year allocation should fund capital and start-up costs in the highest need locations and service categories.
4. Build a common performance system with corrective triggers that will utilize a common performance and data system (with common definitions for operational spaces, closures, waitlists, staffing, turnover, benefits, inclusion, flexible care, and fees) to ensure that provinces and territories stay accountable through reductions in federal allocations, and implementation  reviews, when targets are missed.

Child Care Now welcomes these recommendations. They offer tangible approaches to policy reform and can progress the provinces and territories toward the goal of affordable, accessible and equitable child care for all.

Read the full article here.

Endnotes

1. Office of the Auditor General of Canada. (2025). Canada-wide early learning and child care system. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/auditor-general/our-work/audit-reports/canada-wide-early-learning-and-child-care-system.html ↩︎