Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "New annual reporting requirements will provide the public with additional insight into how much government funding is being invested in child care in B.C., as well as the outcomes achieved from this funding. Also starting Sept. 1, 2024, enhanced affordable child care benefit supports will be available to families when their child care is arranged or recommended by an Indigenous authority under Indigenous law. This means families will receive the same support with their child care costs, regardless of whether their child care is arranged or recommended by the Ministry of Children and Family Development, Indigenous Child and Family Service Agencies, or under Indigenous law. Families, child care providers and early childhood educators will continue to receive the same level of support from the current fee reductions, operational funding and wage-enhancement programs through the Early Learning and Child Care Act."

Excerpt: "The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and the Northwest Territories Early Childhood Association (NWTECA) have agreed on terms of reference to guide their partnership to establish an early learning and child care system that provides quality programs and supports licensed family day homes and centre-based programs. The GNWT and the NWTECA hold regular meetings to discuss important matters affecting the sector. The goal of this agreement is to foster transparency between the GNWT, the NWTECA’s board, and its members to ensure that licensed program operators and early childhood educators fully understand changes to the sector and how they will be impacted."

Excerpt: "The Manitoba government has made amendments to the Child Care Regulation to increase the operating grants for all licensed and provincially funded early learning and child-care facilities, federal Families, Children and Social Development Minister Jenna Sudds and Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Nello Altomare announced today. The amendments brought into force a 2.75 per cent increase to the wage grid supplement provided to facilities, effective July 1, and a five percent increase to the base operating grants, retroactively effective April 1."

Description: "The Government of Canada is committed to working with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to create a Canada-wide system of high-quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child care (ELCC) that all families can access no matter where they live. To help inform continued progress, the Department of Employment and Social Development is seeking input on what the Canada-wide ELCC system and its commitment to provide child care for $10-a-day, on average, means to you. The purpose of this discussion guide is to provide you with a general update on the implementation of the Canada-wide ELCC system and to provide a framework to help us better understand your experiences with the system. Your views on the key challenges and successes to date are essential to support future and ongoing work. This guide is designed to be an open-ended tool that invites respondents to consider both universal and more targeted questions, as appropriate. This tool was designed with the understanding that all respondents will have different experiences with the Canada-wide ELCC system, and that their unique realities will shape their response. While significant progress has been made, more work needs to be done to ensure the Canada-wide ELCC system is able to deliver high-quality, affordable, accessible, flexible and inclusive ELCC for all families. Respondents are invited to respond to whichever questions most align with their priorities, challenges, and experiences."

Excerpt: "The Ontario government is doubling investments to a historic $1.3 billion to support the building of new state-of-the-art schools, as well as school expansions and renovations across the province. This funding for infrastructure projects, the largest-ever one-year allocation through the Capital Priorities Program, will lead to the creation of more than 27,000 new student spaces and more than 1,700 child care spaces."

Excerpt: "Today, applications are being accepted for the new Working Opportunities Program. Funded through a $3.5 million provincial investment in Budget 2024, the Working Opportunities Program will enable individuals who are not eligible for the federally funded Skills Development Program to avail of similar financial supports for training. Working Opportunities enables non-EI eligible individuals with barriers to workforce participation and post-secondary education to retrain and upskill, creating more stable employment and improving their well-being. This program will also help address shortages in the workforce. The program will support people eligible to attend post-secondary schooling that will lead to employment, including funding for a living allowance, child care and costs of training. Participants will attend full-time post-secondary programs that are a minimum of 12 weeks and a maximum of three years in duration at a public or private training institution in Newfoundland and Labrador."

Excerpt: "School food programs provide children and youth with meals and/or snacks at school, often at no-to-low cost for participating families. Providing food to children and youth provides many benefits, including reducing hunger, improving nutrition and health outcomes, supporting local economies, reducing food-related spending for families. With an investment of $1 billion over five years, the Program, included in Budget 2024, will provide meals to up to 400,000 more kids every year, beyond those served by existing school food programs. A National School Food Program will also help support families by reducing food costs. Research shows that school meal programs can provide an estimated $800 per year in relief to participating families with two children. This will mean peace of mind for parents and healthy meals for kids – helping them get the best start to life. The Program will also be a safety net for the kids who need this support the most. We’re going to work with provinces, territories, and Indigenous partners to get this program to schools across the country."

Excerpt: "This annual report provides a snapshot of the state of the Northwest Territories (NWT) education system and provides crucial data to help the GNWT and education bodies address student needs and provide the supports and resources necessary for students to thrive. While there are some encouraging results identified in the 2022-2023 report, the GNWT recognizes that there is a lot of important work to do to improve student outcomes across the Northwest Territories. The GNWT is committed to collaborating with partners, including education bodies and Indigenous governments, to support students throughout their education."

Excerpt: "The Junior Kindergarten program rolled out across the NWT in the 2017-18 school year. Since this time, ECE has been able to compare the Early Development Instrument rates of children who attended Junior Kindergarten with the Early Development Instrument rates of children who did not attend Junior Kindergarten. Thirty-eight percent of children who attended Junior Kindergarten are developmentally “on track” by Kindergarten, while 32 percent of children who did not attend Junior Kindergarten are developmentally “on track” (Figure 23). While the difference is not large, it has been consistent over time and aligns with research suggesting that participation in early learning programs is beneficial to children. This difference is most pronounced in Yellowknife and regional centres."

Excerpt: "Since opening their doors, these three centres have already provided early years programming and parent support to over 600 families. Families with children up to age six can access a range of services including positive parenting programs, literacy opportunities and support for children's development. The centres are led by local management committees that represent a broad mix of government, community-based service providers and organizations who make decisions about specific programs and services based on localized needs. "We continue to improve access to early years programming and family support through the Early Years Family Resource Centres," Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill said. "Parents who have accessed services at one of the many FRCs in the province have reported improved parenting skills and knowledge, improved child development and increased family engagement.""

Excerpt: "Through a five-year Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Education, the South Korean Ministry of Education and the College of the North Atlantic, eligible Korean students are able to participate in an early childhood education work placement program in Newfoundland and Labrador. The program is managed by the department and College of the North Atlantic. The first group of 14 students have arrived in Newfoundland and Labrador and have started their work placements in child care centres in the St. John’s area. The Department of Education is coordinating with work placement sites to ensure continued programming and supports for students during their time in the province."

Excerpt: "The act will require regulatory bodies to reduce red tape and remove barriers in 29 professions and make it easier, more transparent and quicker for those qualified professionals to pursue and achieve credential recognition, no matter where they were trained. One major change is eliminating the catch-22 of unnecessary Canadian work experience requirements for experienced internationally trained professionals. The catch-22 was that a person needed work experience to work in Canada, but couldn’t work in Canada because of the lack of Canadian work experience. The professions include engineers, social workers, veterinarians, paramedics, early childhood educators, teachers, biologists, land surveyors, architects and more."