Federal early learning and child care legislation referred for committee review

The federal government’s proposed early learning and child care legislation, which was introduced last December, passed second reading unanimously on February 1, 2023, and has been referred for review by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA). The federal bill enshrines…

Ontario workforce crisis worsens as provincial government announces more new child care spaces

On December 19, 2022, the Ontario government announced it will support the creation of 53,000 licensed child care spaces by 2026 for children 0-5 years of age, including 16,296 spaces located in schools and 28,672 community centre-based or home-based spaces. The province has allocated $213 million of federal funds to one-time start-up grants to offset…

Interim report of BC’s  Early Care and Learning Recruitment and Retention Strategy says low wages continue to be major problem

The low and inadequate wages paid to early childhood educators continue to be a barrier to recruitment and retention of qualified staff according to a progress report on the Government of BC’s Early Care and Learning Recruitment and Retention Strategy. Early Childhood Educators of British Columbia (ECEBC) and the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC)…

Child Care Now embarks on a new project to make child care more accessible to under-represented groups

Child Care Now is working with Oxfam Canada and the Childcare Resource and Research Unit  on carrying out a joint project to ensure that the voices of women who have the most difficulty accessing licensed child care are heard.  The two-year project, funded by the federal government’s WAGE department, will include research on the barriers…

Ontario government must live up to child care commitments, advocates say

Child care advocates have called on the Premier of Ontario to act on the spirit and requirements of its Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) funding agreement with the Government of Canada. In a joint letter to Premier Ford, the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario, Childcare…

BC Government announces how it is bringing downs fees by 50% in accordance with federal agreement

BC Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside and BC Child Care Minister Katrina Chen recently announced that the average cost of early learning and child care will go down to $21 per day. In a media release, BC child care advocates applauded the announcement saying the province is making good progress toward full implementation of the $10aDay…

End of content

End of content