Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Last year, government took its first steps to make quality child care more affordable and available to more B.C. families. A $1 billion dollar investment over three years – the most significant child care investment in B.C. history – will reduce child care costs, increase the number of spaces and deliver the highest quality care.

Tens of thousands of B.C. families are already enjoying the benefits. With child-care costs reduced by hundreds of dollars a month, young families can consider home ownership for the first time. More parents can participate fully in the workforce, confident their children are getting high-quality care from early childhood educators who know their work is valued.

This year, government will set the foundation for the full implementation of B.C.’s affordable child care program. A key element of this effort will be a collaborative process to develop new legislation to give universal access to quality, affordable childcare the force of law."

Excerpt: "The proposed changes include: Increasing the number of young children that home-based child care providers can have in their care, from two under two-years-old, to three under two-years-old; Lowering the age at which home-based child care providers must count their own children towards the maximum allowable number of children in care, from six-years-old to four-years-old; Reducing the age requirement from six-years-old to four-years-old for authorized recreation programs that serve children after school; Removing the restriction that a parent must receive financial assistance before licensed in-home child care services can be provided for their child."

Excerpt: "The government will give back to families and seniors nearly $1.7 billion over five years. To do so, it is planning on the following: payment of a more generous family allowance for families with two or more children beginning in 2019; freeze on the additional contribution for subsidized childcare as of 2019."

Excerpt: "“We are very excited to be able to allocate more licensed child care centre spaces,” Hargrave said. “Today’s announcement brings our total allocation to nearly 1,200 new spaces across the province this year. Access to affordable, high-quality child care is important to families across Saskatchewan and we are very pleased to make child care accessible for more families in Prince Albert.”"

Excerpt: "The provincial government has signed a three-year bilat-eral agreement under the Early Learning and Child Care federal framework The provincial and federal funding will result in the creation of NB Early Learning Centres through which families will access affordable quality child care Grants to help pay for the cost of providing vquality child care will be provided through EECD directly to the NB Early Learning Centres There was a phased-in approach for the designation initiative, Phase 1 began in Q4 2017-2018 with 55 facilities being initially targeted, and subsequently approved, for designation."

Excerpt: "The B.C. government is moving forward with 53 prototype projects around the province to deliver child care that will cost families a maximum of $200 per month per child.

The prototype sites are the next major step in government’s 10-year ChildCare BC plan and will model what high-quality, affordable, universal child care may look like for B.C. families. The prototypes are being funded through an investment of $60 million under the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Agreement with the Government of Canada. In all, parents of about 2,500 children will benefit from the prototype projects."

Excerpt: "This project will promote the evidence-based Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development through a variety of digitals tools and e-learning products, to all Canadians, including families and services providers working directly with parents and children. These innovative tools and products will help to create a better understanding of the science of early childhood development and improve the quality of early childhood practices."

Excerpt: "In support of the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework, the Government of Canada is committing up to $1.7 billion over 10 years to strengthen early learning and child care programs and services for Indigenous children and families starting in 2018–19. This is part of the commitment of $7.5 billion over 11 years the Government has made to support and create more high-quality, affordable child care across the country in Budget 2016."

Excerpt: "The amendments will: give the department more authority over inspections conducted by family home daycare agencies; change the title of the act from the Day Care Act to the Early Learning and Child Care Act; remove or revise outdated language, terms and definitions."

Excerpt: "Over 80,000 B.C. families are now eligible for some level of support through the benefit. Under the previous subsidy, only 20,000 families were eligible. The benefit amount for infant/toddler care has also been increased, with some families now eligible for up to $1,250 a month per child, up from $750 per child, marking a 67% increase."

Excerpt: "Early childhood educators (ECEs) who provide vital services to B.C. children will be better supported by a new recruitment and retention strategy as part of the Province’s ChildCare BC plan."

Excerpt: "Ontario's licensed child care sector continues to grow, driven by growth in licensed child care centres (see Figure 3 and Table 1). Specific areas of growth since 2008-09 include the following: The number of licensed child care centres increased by more than 15%, from 4,708 to 5,437. Licensed spaces have increased by 73%, from 246,642 to 427,032; The number of spaces has grown across all age groups, including kindergarten (280%), school age (90%), toddler (69%), infant (57%), and preschool (7%)."