Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Ontario is taking the next step in lowering child care fees for families as part of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system. Starting in January 2025, parent fees will be capped at $22 per day for children under the age of six in CWELCC programs, resulting in additional savings of nearly $300 million in 2025 for families."

Excerpt: "This document (the “CWELCC Cost-Based Funding Guideline” or “this guideline”) describes the calculation of cost-based funding for eligible centres/agencies under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement for 2025 and subsequent calendar years and provides guidance for CMSMs/DSSABs to support the administration of that calculation. For clarity, the cost-based funding approach described in this guideline replaces the previous, “revenue replacement” approach, which—until December 31, 2024—provided funding based on the revenue “lost” due to mandatory caps and reductions of parent fees pursuant to O. Reg 137/15. Starting with 2025, licensees are funded based on eligible costs incurred in the calendar year in respect of eligible centres/agencies, up to a maximum amount of funding determined by the formula described in this guideline."

Excerpt: "The Ontario government is also introducing a new, cost-based funding approach for child care operators in the CWELCC program, effective January 1, 2025. This replaces the "revenue replacement approach" the government used in 2022, 2023 and 2024 where operators are eligible for the amounts required to buy down the parent fees (plus cost escalation). While this approach has worked for many it has also posed challenges, including that it was based on a point in time when some operators had kept fees low to support families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new funding approach prioritizes a simple and easy-to-administer system that is consistent across the province and is representative of the true costs of operating child care. Benchmark Allocations - Under the new funding approach, all operators will receive benchmark funding based on the typical costs to operate child care in their region of the province. In order to simplify the process for operators, funding will be based on core metrics including: the number of operating spaces/active homes; licensed spaces by age group; operator setting; operating days; cost escalation."

Excerpt: "Funding will be provided to child care centres for 15 Quality, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility Coordinators to be hired throughout the province. Each coordinator will have a background in psychology, early childhood education, education, or a closely related field. The coordinator will be an employee of a specific child care service and will provide on-site support to improve quality and inclusion within the child care centre. The coordinators will be responsible for supporting early childhood educators to ensure they are responsive to the individual needs of each child."

Excerpt: "Over the course of the three-year plan, Newfoundland and Labrador’s ELCC Action Plan 2023–2024 to 2025–2026 outlines spending of more than $280 million in five areas: Affordability: More than $136 million towards enhancing affordability of regulated child care services for children aged 0–5. These funds help maintain Newfoundland and Labrador’s $10-a-day fee for regulated child care through the Canada-wide ELCC Agreement. Access: Over $43 million towards continuing the creation of 5,895 new regulated child care spaces by March 2026. This will be done through supporting expansion of the Pre-Kindergarten Program and through working with municipalities, not-for-profit and public child care providers to create new regulated child care spaces. Quality: More than $92 million towards ongoing support for the Early Childhood Educator wage grid implemented in April 2023, introducing a medical benefits program for Early Childhood Educators working in regulated child care services that participate in the Operating Grant Program, offering training and bursaries to support educators, and continuing the Quality Enhancement Program. Inclusion: More than $3 million to continue supporting the Child Care Capacity Initiative which provides funding to expand child care services for underserviced communities, including rural communities, linguistic minority communities, and Indigenous communities. Administration: Approximately $8 million to support the implementation and administration of the Canada–Newfoundland and Labrador Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, including building targeted capacity and additional resources to support the implementation of initiatives, and enhanced data collection and reporting."

Excerpt: "More families throughout B.C. will have access to affordable and high-quality child care as the Province invests in almost 600 new licensed child care spaces. “Thanks to our government’s ChildCareBC plan, hundreds more families will be able to access the child care they need, close to home,” said Mitzi Dean, B.C.’s Minister of State for Child Care. “We know that having access to secure child care spaces supports families and strengthens communities. Through these investments, more families will be able to pursue opportunities and will provide children with great early learning experiences.” The new spaces were made possible with provincial and federal funding through the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund, as well as the new federal Child Care Infrastructure Fund. More than $74 million was provided to First Nations, local governments and school districts to create these new child care spaces."

Excerpt: "Over the course of the three-year plan, New Brunswick’s Action Plan 2023–2024 to 2025–2026 outlines spending of more than $426 million in five areas: Affordability - More than $295 million towards the goal of achieving regulated child care fees of $10-a-day average by March 31, 2026. The Government of New Brunswick has already reduced child care fees by an average of 50% as of December 2022 saving families an average of $3,600 per year, per child. Access - More than $20 million towards the creation of 3,400 new regulated child care spots by March 2026. In New Brunswick, measures to support the creation of 3,400 new spots have been announced, including in francophone and rural communities. Quality - More than $128.5 million toward ongoing support for the early childhood educator (ECE) wage grid introduced in November 2022, and offering training to support educators obtaining their Level 1 – ECE Certificate. Inclusion - More than $30 million to develop and implement a comprehensive inclusion framework for both anglophone and francophone sectors; as well as continuing to support inclusion measures for diverse and vulnerable communities, including children with additional needs; Approximately $12.4 million through the Government of Canada’s Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund to increase the physical accessibility of ELCC spaces and support greater inclusion for underserved communities including: families in rural and remote communities, minority language communities, newcomer families, low-income families, extended hour service providers and Indigenous communities; With more than $2.7 million, the Government of Canada and New Brunswick are collaborating with Indigenous communities and organizations to identify areas of focus and establish a plan for ELCC services for Indigenous children that is supported by an Indigenous-led, strength-based coordination process. Reporting and Administration - Over $16 million to support the implementation and administration of the Canada–New Brunswick Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, including building targeted capacity and additional resources within the Government of New Brunswick to support the implementation of initiatives, and enhanced data collection and reporting."

Excerpt: "Today, the federal Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, the Honourable Jenna Sudds, and the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning for Manitoba, Nello Altomare, announced the creation of over 950 new affordable child-care spaces in Manitoba. These include over 200 spaces created at three newly-opened Ready-to-Move (RTM) facilities in Lorette, St. Adolphe and Stoney Mountain, over 300 expansion spaces opened through new start-up and operating grants, and a commitment to create another 400 expansion spaces in existing child-care facilities through the new Child Care Renovation Expansion Grant."

Excerpt: "As of Sept. 1, 2024 francophone families, child care providers and child care professionals will have expanded access through the francophone CCRR centre to services in French, which will be offered online or in person in Vancouver. This will further remove barriers for families in accessing quality, affordable and inclusive child care, and for child care providers and child care professionals in accessing resources in French. La Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique will also be part of the provincial network of CCRR centres and assist all local CCRR service providers in the province in providing francophone-specific services as required."

Excerpt: "The Steps to Success program will be offered again this fall, providing financial aid and experience to help Islanders pursue a rewarding career as an early childhood educator. This group-based training initiative is funded by the Department of Workforce, Advanced Learning and Population through the Canada-PEI labour market agreements and creates a pathway for participants to: Work full time at a PEI licensed child care centre; Receive post-secondary early childhood education courses at Holland College; A training stipend (when applicable); Travel allowance (when applicable); Child care allowances (when applicable). Over the past 4 years, this program has provided training to over 100 participants, with a combined investment of $1.8 million. Participants will also be enrolled in three introductory Early Childhood Education courses through Holland College, with all fees and course materials covered by the project."

Excerpt: "Last fall, several licensed child-care facilities in Calgary faced a devastating E. coli outbreak, the largest in the province’s history. In response, Alberta’s government established the Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel (review) to conduct a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding the event and recommend ways to prevent this from happening again. The panel's seven-month review resulted in a final report that includes 12 primary recommendations and 27 sub-recommendations. The recommendations centre around three main themes: fostering a culture of food safety that supports high-quality, safe and healthy learning environments for children; public policy, legislation and inspection systems for food safety; system alignment and integration."

Excerpt: "For the 2024–25 benefit year, families can receive up to $7,787 per child under the age of 6 and $6,570 per child aged 6 through 17. This means moms and dads could receive up to $350 more than last year. This represents an increase of 4.7% from the previous year. The Canada Child Benefit has been indexed to inflation using Consumer Price Index data as reported by Statistics Canada—a widely used measure of inflation. Indexing the Canada Child Benefit occurs every July, ensuring that the benefit protects families from inflation and provides certainty and predictability of support parents can count on."