Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Recently, child-care operators have expressed several concerns relating to long-term sustainability and a lack of flexibility under the agreement. For these reasons, Premier Danielle Smith has appointed Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade Matt Jones to lead the province’s work on child care. Minister Jones has extensive experience from his time as minister of children’s services and will immediately engage with the federal government to address the concerns of operators and to ensure child care remains sustainable for Alberta families. To provide immediate support, Alberta’s government is actively working on a new system that will streamline payment processes and ensure child-care operators receive affordability grant payments faster. This work is being done in partnership with the Ministry of Technology and Innovation, and additional information will be made available in the coming weeks."

Excerpt: "Over the course of the three-year plan, Nova Scotia’s Canada-wide ELCC Action Plan 2023–2024 to 2025–2026 outlines spending of more than $440 million in five areas: Affordability - More than $285 million towards the goal of achieving regulated child care fees of $10-a-day average by March 31, 2026. The Government of Nova Scotia has already reduced child care fees by an average of 50% as of December 2022 saving families up to $6,000 per year, per child. When combined with the Child Care Subsidy Program, this resulted in more than 3,000 families having access to free child care; Access - $52 million towards the creation of 9,500 new regulated child care spaces by March 2026. In Nova Scotia, 3,861 new spaces have already been created as of December 31, 2023; Quality - More than $105 million toward an early childhood educator (ECE) compensation framework, including ongoing support for the ECE wage grid introduced in November 2022, and implementing retirement and health benefits for all ECEs and ELCC workers in the regulated sector; Inclusion - More than $30 million to implement an inclusive early learning and child care strategy that focuses on respect for diversity and strives for equity, inclusion and accessibility across the child care system; as well as continuing to support inclusion measures for diverse and vulnerable communities, including children with additional needs. Nova Scotia is committed to creating inclusive spaces to support diverse and vulnerable children and families, including children with disabilities and children needing enhanced or individual supports, Indigenous children, Black and other racialized children, children of newcomers, and official language minorities; Administration - $23 million to support the implementation and administration of the Canada–Nova Scotia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, including building targeted capacity and additional resources within the Government of Nova Scotia to support the implementation of initiatives, and enhanced data collection and reporting."

Excerpt: "The first measure will increase the minimum enrolment threshold for regulated child care centres participating in the Operating Grant Program. The threshold for those centres to receive full grant funding will increase from 70 per cent enrolment to 90 per cent enrolment. This change will come into effect on April 1, 2024. Regional staff from the Department of Education will work with all child care centers to maximize capacity and minimize operational impact. Rural and remote services will not be financially impacted by the increase in enrolment threshold."

Excerpt: "The newly approved $10-a-day spaces are offered at 25 child care centres throughout B.C., including Houston, Squamish, Surrey and Vancouver. For this intake, government’s focus was to prioritize new $10-a-day facilities in communities that do not yet have access to the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program or have a low number of $10-a-day spaces compared to the region’s population density. In addition to the $10-a-day spaces, provincial and federal investments are helping approximately 128,000 families with the cost of child care at centres that are not part of the $10 a Day ChildCareBC program through child care fee reductions of up to $900 per month per child. When combined with the Affordable Child Care Benefit, many families are paying $10 a day or less for child care, including those not participating in the $10 a Day program."

Excerpt: "The Accord aims to create better outcomes for students and learners while also supporting the Provincial Government’s goal of becoming one of Canada’s healthiest provinces by 2031. Education Accord NL will focus on four pillars: Early learning and childhood development; Education engagement and transformation; Health and well-being in education environments; and, Post-secondary education and learning across the life span. The Accord will be developed in consultation with stakeholders and will incorporate research garnered through the extensive engagement and consultation process of Health Accord NL. Education Accord NL will focus on delivering a 10-Year Education Accord with short, medium, and long-term goals for an education system that better meets the needs of students and learners in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Accord will be delivered to government by December 31, 2024."

Excerpt: "New learning expectations are also being added to the kindergarten curriculum. In math, clear and direct instruction in foundational numeracy skills will be provided to all students in addition to daily opportunities to explore math concepts through regular classroom activities. All students will start to learn about fractions, coding and patterns earlier in their education. These new lessons will build foundational math concepts and skills that are the gateway to the disciplines of science, technology and engineering, as well as construction, skilled trades and architecture. The changes and supports, which will be in place starting in September 2025, are the next step in Ontario’s plan to modernize the curriculum and ensure every student has the skills to succeed in the classroom and prepare them for whatever path they choose."

Excerpt: "The New Year brings added benefits for the early years sector in Prince Edward Island, including updated regulations, three newly designated Early Years Centres (EYCs) and a drop in child care fees to $10-a-day. After extensive consultation, the province is pleased to support the early years sector and Island families by updating the Early Learning and Child Care Act regulations. These updates will support centres and developers who want to plan for more spaces by allowing for increased enrollment, modernized titles for staff certification levels and added pathways to obtain certification, and bring changes to prevent delays in filling vacancies at centres."

Excerpt: "The Provincial Government has released a report outlining a review of the Operating Grant Program for child care services in Newfoundland and Labrador. The report includes six opportunity areas for improving the Operating Grant Program, including: Governance; Funding and rates; Program policies, processes and requirements; Accountability; Workforce; and System enablers."

Excerpt: "The analyses and recommendations laid out in this report set forward ongoing improvements to the Operating Grant Program, and serve to support the initiatives currently underway and/or planned to further improve the child care sector in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Department of Education’s Early Learning and Child Development Division has several initiatives in-flight to improve the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) landscape and have identified a keen willingness to invest considerable time and effort to improve the Operating Grant Program and implement these recommendations."

Excerpt: "ECEs working in provincially licensed and funded child-care centres and family home agencies will receive hourly wage increases ranging from about $3.14 to $4.24. All employees will be included in a comprehensive group benefits and pension plan. The wage increase will be for ECEs – including those working as inclusion co-ordinators – assistant directors, directors and family home consultants. Based on education and experience, wages range from $22.91 to $28.78 per hour for ECEs Level 1, 2 and 3, and up to $34.54 for ECEs in leadership roles. Group benefits will be provided by the non-profit Health Association Nova Scotia and a modern defined-benefit pension through CAAT Pension Plan, also a non-profit."

Excerpt: "Beginning January 1, 2024, child care fees across Prince Edward Island will drop to $10-a-day for all Island children attending Early Years Centres (EYCs) and licensed Family Home Centres (FHCs). Under the Canada-Prince Edward Island Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, the governments of Canada and Prince Edward Island committed to bringing the average fees for regulated child care to $10-a-day per child. To ensure affordability and equity across the province, PEI will be exceeding this commitment by investing additional dollars to make $10-a-day the standard child care fee at all EYCs and licensed FHCs in the province, and achieve this milestone ahead of the national target. Provincial subsidy and support programs will continue, covering fees for many Island families."

Excerpt: "More people are training for jobs as early childhood educators in the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria area thanks to a government-funded Community and Employer Partnership project (CEP). As many as 40 people, most of them immigrant women, have the opportunity to learn new skills or start new careers, benefiting young children, families and communities. “We all want people to have meaningful work to build better lives,” said Sheila Malcolmson, Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction. “Through this training, people will get in-demand jobs, while local communities will be able to access more child care spaces.” The Province, in partnership with the federal government, is providing $1.2 million to YWCA Metro Vancouver to deliver its program, Discover, in three cohorts, training people to become early childhood educators. The second and third cohorts of the program are underway in Vancouver and Victoria, with 15 participants each. The first group completed the course in September 2023."