News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "The Manitoba government has introduced legislation that would lower the age a child is required to attend school and remove barriers to students enrolling in schools in the area where they live, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Nello Altomare announced today. “We want to make sure every kid is set up for success and that means making sure they have access to education, particularly in the critical early years,” said Altomare. “We know when kids attend school regularly, they are more likely to succeed, go to college or university, and get a good job that will help them build a good life. That is why we want to make sure they are able to go to school wherever they are living.”"

Excerpt: "Ontario’s Early Years and Child Care Annual Report 2023 describes the early years and child care system, key data and measures for child care and indicators under Ontario’s bilateral federal-provincial early learning and child care agreements with the federal government."

The Student and Family Affordability Fund will add an additional $20 million from the Province to help schools provide support directly to families within their school communities. Funding will be used to help pay for student necessities, such as school supplies, school fees and class trips, as well as additional costs associated with joining a school sports team or music program.

Excerpt: "Budget 2024 lays a stable foundation for Albertan families to grow and thrive; $1.5 billion for child-care services, an increase of 15.9%, to create more child-care spaces, lower fees for parents and support service providers; A new $30 million program to build small and mid-sized arenas, rinks, pools and sports fields for children and families - this is on top of $125 million over 3 years to support non-profit organizations to build and develop public use community facilities; $22 million over the next 3 years to index foster, kinship and other caregivers rates to inflation - foster caregivers haven’t seen increases to support rates since 2018."

Excerpt: "Through this action plan, Canada’s investments support five key areas: Affordability - Over $25 million toward achieving an average of $10-a-day for child care fees. This investment has made licensed ELCC programming more affordable for all families, regardless of their income or location in the territory. The Government of the Northwest Territories had already reduced out-of-pocket child care fees by an average of 60% as of April 1, 2023, and will reach an average of $10-a-day per child by April 1, 2024, for all licensed ELCC spaces. Access - $770,000 toward preserving and expanding licensed spaces. This investment includes health and safety funding to support repairs and maintenance required during the licensing and inspection process, and start-up funding to purchase supplies, material, and other costs incurred when setting up a new licensed program. Inclusion - In addition to territorial investments, $135,000 dedicated to developing a renewed approach to inclusion. This investment aims to ensure all children experience safe and nurturing environments, including Indigenous children and children needing enhanced or individual supports to fully participate in early learning. Quality - More than $30 million toward initiatives that support the ELCC workforce. This investment will focus on providing professional learning and development, funding post-secondary institutions to offer ELCC education programs, and providing scholarships to part- and full-time post-secondary students enrolled in early childhood development programs. This investment will also help develop a wage grid, with an implementation target date in 2024–2025. Administration and reporting - Almost $5 million toward building targeted capacity and additional resources within the Government of the Northwest Territories to support licensed ELCC space creation, enhance access, and improve reporting capacity."

Excerpt: "$28 million more for public schools to address growing enrolment, hire more teachers and address inflationary pressures; $42.5 million more this year in child-care funding to lower fees for families, create more spaces and enhance after school care, fully recoverable from the Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement"

Excerpt: "Alberta child-care providers are a critical part of ensuring the province has a strong economy. Child-care providers have asked the government for changes to help address concerns on the timing of their payments. In response, Alberta’s government is fast-tracking $84 million in advance payments. Starting March 1, child-care providers will receive about 80 per cent of their monthly claim at the beginning of each month, in addition to the fees they collect from parents. This change to monthly claim advances will help achieve the government’s commitment to introducing a new payment approach, ensuring child-care providers receive grant payments sooner."

Excerpt: "Nova Scotia families will no longer be faced with wait-list or registration fees to attend provincially licensed and funded early learning and child-care programs. Under 2024-25 child-care operator funding agreements, the Department is banning wait-list and registration fees, which conflict with the government’s commitment to family-centred practices. “We are transforming Nova Scotia’s child-care system and part of that transformation is ensuring we build family-centred practices,” said Becky Druhan, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. “In the fall, I promised to end the practice of wait-list fees as part of our commitment to inclusive, accessible and affordable child care for families. I am very happy to say these extra fees will no longer be something parents have to worry about.”"

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: "From public health, to child care and education, our government takes our responsibility to help and support parents in keeping kids safe and healthy very seriously. During the pandemic, thanks to measures like contract tracing, we kept kids in classrooms more than any other province did. We understood how important school is, not only for learning, but also for the social, mental and physical well-being of children. It wasn’t always easy, but was important to do the right thing for kids in B.C."

Excerpt: "The B.C. government is helping people with everyday costs, including delivering more affordable homes, reducing the cost of child care, providing more meals and snacks in schools and boosting skills training so people can access good-paying jobs. Budget 2024 builds on this foundation by keeping more money in people’s pockets during tough times. More families with children will get more help with costs. Families will see a 25% increase to their monthly BC Family Benefit, with $248 million for a one-year BC Family Benefit Bonus, starting in July 2024; A family of four would receive up to $2,850 per year and with the bonus will now receive as much as $3,563; A single parent with one child would receive up to $2,250 and will now receive as much as $2,688 per year; On average, families will receive $445 more; More families will benefit. Approximately 66,000 more families, or 25% more, will receive the benefit and the bonus this year. A total of 340,000 families will benefit during the 12-month period."

Excerpt: "Participants mentioned the need for the public school system to accommodate the increasing school-age population. The unique needs of new resident students, such as English and French as Additional Language students, were also acknowledged. At the same time, there was a recognition that the province has a robust education system on which to build. Participants also raised Early Learning and Child Care access as a concern. Limited access to Early Learning and Child Care prevents some parents from participating in the workforce. Early Learning and Child Care inaccessibility are felt more acutely by vulnerable segments of the population— women, lower-income families, and members of equity-deserving groups—creating additional barriers to social inclusion."