New report: Half of Canada’s young children still live in child care deserts due to shortage of licensed spaces

As $10-a-day child care is rolling out across Canada, an insufficient number of spaces relative to demand remains a major challenge. Not Done Yet, a report just published by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives examines the availability of spaces across the country and finds that nearly 48 per cent of younger children in Canada live…

Child Care Now begins new project on child care workforce policy

Child Care Now is pleased to announce our new project “Quality Early Childhood Education through Policy Change”. We are embarking on this journey with community and sector partners including the Child Care Federation of Canada, the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario and our provincial chapters and advocacy affiliates.  As the federal child care system…

Brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities regarding Bill C-35 

We now applaud the introduction of Bill C-35, an Act respecting early learning and child care in
Canada, and urge its adoption. At the same time, we ask your Committee to consider ways in
which the legislation can be strengthened, particularly with respect to:
(a) the principles that the Bill sets out to guide federal spending on early learning and
child care,
(b) the functions of the National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care, and
(c) the reporting obligations of the designated minister.

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…

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