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December 16, 2024

2024 Fall Economic Statement - Reducing Everyday Costs and Raising Wageslink is external

Excerpt: "The government’s investments to create a Canada-wide system for $10-a-day child care are supporting higher labour force participation, empowering women to pursue both motherhood and a career, and helping to ensure that every child in Canada has the best possible start in life. Currently eight provinces and territories are delivering regulated child care at an average cost of $10-a-day or less, and the others have reduced fees by at least 50 per cent. The federal government’s $10-a-day child care system is saving families across
Canada thousands of dollars per child per year with some families saving up to $14,300 per child, per year, lowering the costs of working, and in turn boosting economic growth and incomes as more parents, especially mothers, enter the workforce."
December 13, 2024

National Progress Report on Early Learning and Child Care 2020 to 2021link is external

Excerpt: "This year, 2020 to 2021, has set the stage for a robust Canada-wide ELCC system, promising a sustainable framework for generations to come. The 2020 Fall Economic Statement (FES) introduced measures such as a one-time workforce funding of $420 million and permanent bilateral extension funding, establishing a solid foundation for future development. The federal government also provided $400 million in 2020 to 2021 for continued support through bilateral agreements, alongside $625 million in emergency pandemic aid to provinces and territories. Our commitment to innovation in ELCC continues with a $100 million investment to explore and develop new approaches to improve service quality and accessibility. Additionally, the 2020 FES announced $70 million over 5 years and $15 million per year ongoing for Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care governance and the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Secretariat; $75 million in 2021 to 2022 to improve the quality, accessibility, and inclusivity of Indigenous child care programs; and $210 million per year ongoing by making previous funding permanent at 2027 to 2028 levels, beginning in 2028 to 2029."
December 9, 2024

Steve Anderson link is external

I served as co-Director (with Dr. Sarfaroz Niyozov) and then as Director of the Comparative, International and Development Education Centre and Program from January 2013 to January 2018, the year of my retirement from OISE/UT.
December 9, 2024

Saskatchewan Moves to Amend Child Care Actlink is external

Excerpt: "The Government of Saskatchewan is introducing legislative changes to The Child Care Act, 2014 to further assist in providing Saskatchewan families with greater access to affordable, high-quality early learning and child care opportunities. "The proposed amendments support our government's efforts to increase access to regulated child care," Education Minister Everett Hindley said. "These changes will allow the ministry to expand the types of regulated services as we work toward the expansion target of 28,000 new child care spaces by 2026.""
December 5, 2024

Ontario’s Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2024link is external

Excerpt: "High-quality early learning and child care is foundational to supporting early childhood development and student success. It is also a key enabler of workforce participation, particularly for women, both as parents and providers. Over the years, Ontario has advanced many initiatives to strengthen its early years and child care system. This includes: Providing child care fee subsidies to support lower-income families to access child care; Investing in operator subsidies to help offset costs that would otherwise result in higher child care fees. Support is provided for general operating costs, as well as wage enhancements for qualified staff; Establishing the College of Early Childhood Educators in 2008 as the self-regulatory body for the early childhood education profession in the province and the only regulatory college for early childhood educators in Canada; Rolling out universal full-day kindergarten starting in 2010 to provide a full day of free high-quality programming for all children aged 4 to 5 years in the publicly funded school system across the province; Conducting an annual data collection of child care program operations from licensed child care centres and home child care agencies since 2012 and reporting on the Early Development Instrument (EDI) indicators since 2003; Establishing a modern legislative framework and quality standards, the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA), that governs child care in Ontario. The legislation requires that programming in licensed spaces is aligned with the provincial pedagogy, How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years, 2014, which sets out a vision, values, foundations and approaches to guide practice for high-quality experiences in licensed child care and early years settings; Supporting the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators in child care since 2015 through the Ontario Wage Enhancement Grants; Introducing the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit in 2019. The tax credit helps an estimated 300,000 families each year with up to 75% of their eligible child care expenses; Funding EarlyON Child and Family Centres to provide a variety of supports to caregivers and children up to six years old across Ontario. Implementing the CWELCC system in the province to reduce the average parent fees for children under six in participating child care programs to $10 per by the end of fiscal year 2025-26. This includes: a Start-up Grant program to support the creation of new child care spaces in targeted regions and for underserviced communities and populations; an Access and Inclusion Framework to support local service plans as related to inclusion; a workforce strategy to support the recruitment and retention of qualified professionals working in licensed child care; a cost-based funding approach providing support for operating costs for licensees participating in CWELCC for the delivery of child care to children aged 0-5 years; These initiatives continue to shape Ontario’s early years and child care system and benefit children and families in the province. A stable and accessible child care system is crucial in supporting the province moving forward with the implementation of the CWELCC system."
December 4, 2024

Making school meals a reality for more kids in Ottawalink is external

Excerpt: "Today, the Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, accompanied by Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament for Orléans, and Mona Fortier, Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier announced that the Government of Canada will invest approximately $108.5 million over the next three years to enhance and expand access to school food programs in Ontario. This agreement, under the federal government’s National School Food Program, will result in over 9.8 million more meals served to our kids, including 130,000 more school meals served to kids in Indigenous communities across Ontario, this school year."