News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "The ministry will be extending funding for the school districts included in the child care on school grounds pilots (Seamless Day Kindergarten, School Age Child Care, Just B4 licensed preschool, and the Integration Inquiry Project) to ensure the existing child care spaces families depend on are operational next school year."

Excerpt: " The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) implemented today an increase of $3.5 million in Dedicated Wage Funding and a permanent increase of $664,000 in Flexible Funding to support the Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Sector. The Dedicated Wage Funding is intended to increase wages to early childhood educators working in licensed centre-based early learning and child care facilities. This funding represents a significant increase to the wage grid and increases the minimum that all early childhood educators in centre-based facilities must be paid by approximately $9/hour."

Excerpt: "In response to the devastating outbreak, Alberta’s government established an external review panel to identify ways to strengthen food safety legislation and inspection processes in kitchens servicing licensed child-care facilities. The review panel submitted its final report in the summer of 2024, outlining 12 main recommendations and 27 sub-recommendations. Immediate action was taken to begin to address key recommendations, including establishing clear expectations and a framework for public health inspections. Now, Alberta’s government is taking further steps to strengthen food safety in licensed child-care facilities. Starting March 26, Albertans are invited to participate in an online survey to help inform the implementation of the review panel’s recommendations and Alberta’s public health legislation, regulations, and policies related to food safety."

Excerpt: "High-quality early learning and child care is foundational to supporting early childhood development and student success. It is also a key enabler of workforce participation, particularly for women, both as parents and providers. Over the years, Ontario has advanced many initiatives to strengthen its early years and child care system. This includes: Providing child care fee subsidies to support lower-income families to access child care; Investing in operator subsidies to help offset costs that would otherwise result in higher child care fees. Support is provided for general operating costs, as well as wage enhancements for qualified staff; Establishing the College of Early Childhood Educators in 2008 as the self-regulatory body for the early childhood education profession in the province and the only regulatory college for early childhood educators in Canada; Rolling out universal full-day kindergarten starting in 2010 to provide a full day of free high-quality programming for all children aged 4 to 5 years in the publicly funded school system across the province; Conducting an annual data collection of child care program operations from licensed child care centres and home child care agencies since 2012 and reporting on the Early Development Instrument (EDI) indicators since 2003; Establishing a modern legislative framework and quality standards, the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA), that governs child care in Ontario. The legislation requires that programming in licensed spaces is aligned with the provincial pedagogy, How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years, 2014, which sets out a vision, values, foundations and approaches to guide practice for high-quality experiences in licensed child care and early years settings; Supporting the recruitment and retention of early childhood educators in child care since 2015 through the Ontario Wage Enhancement Grants; Introducing the Ontario Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credit in 2019. The tax credit helps an estimated 300,000 families each year with up to 75% of their eligible child care expenses; Funding EarlyON Child and Family Centres to provide a variety of supports to caregivers and children up to six years old across Ontario. Implementing the CWELCC system in the province to reduce the average parent fees for children under six in participating child care programs to $10 per by the end of fiscal year 2025-26. This includes: a Start-up Grant program to support the creation of new child care spaces in targeted regions and for underserviced communities and populations; an Access and Inclusion Framework to support local service plans as related to inclusion; a workforce strategy to support the recruitment and retention of qualified professionals working in licensed child care; a cost-based funding approach providing support for operating costs for licensees participating in CWELCC for the delivery of child care to children aged 0-5 years; These initiatives continue to shape Ontario’s early years and child care system and benefit children and families in the province. A stable and accessible child care system is crucial in supporting the province moving forward with the implementation of the CWELCC system."

Excerpt: "Since 2019 the department has made progress on several initiatives to address systemic inequities and achieve better student outcomes. Here are some of the highlights: Launching the Universal Early Learning and Child Care model and continuing to invest in high quality, accessible and affordable early learning programs for Yukon
children. This supports positive outcomes for children and helps to close gaps in student achievement; Further enhancing early learning through the provision of kindergarten and full-day kindergarten in rural communities to provide children with opportunities to engage in developmentally appropriate, play-based curriculum for longer periods (over two years), which fosters deeper understanding and development of solid foundational skills as they enter grade one; The department has continued to work with the First Nation School Board and the Chiefs Committee on Education to support the successes of the First Nation School Board, which operates eleven Yukon schools and develops and implements Indigenous language and culture education programs and programs designed to improve student outcomes within the education system; At the same time, the department has continued to work directly with Yukon First Nation governments to address joint education priorities through several collaborative initiatives inclusive of work on the Collaboration Framework and the next Joint Education Action Plan; The department has also continued work to advance the Review of Inclusive and Special Education (RISE) and to advance the RISE workplan which was co-developed with Yukon First Nations Education Commissioners and Advisory Committee for Yukon Education."

Excerpt: "The progress report highlights the Department of Education's dedication to meaningful systemic changes designed to improve student outcomes. Since 2019, the Department of Education has launched several initiatives to address the gaps in the Yukon’s education system and to improve student outcomes. These include: launching the Universal Child Care model; launching enhanced early kindergarten and full day kindergarten in most rural communities; working with the Chiefs Committee on Education to establish the First Nation School Board; finalizing a Collaboration Framework with Yukon First Nations; completing the Review of Inclusive and Special Education; advancing the Reimagining Inclusive and Special Education (RISE) work plan, which was developed with partners; developing a Comprehensive Mental Health and Wellness Approach that aligns with the Yukon’s Forward Together: Mental Wellness Strategy; launching the Ready-to-Learn Schools initiative; creating a data sharing agreement with Yukon First Nations and releasing publicly available student data reports; and initiating work and engagement on an Integrated Outcome for Yukon Learner Strategy, which will look at root causes of poor student outcomes, develop targets and evaluate progress on closing gaps."

Excerpt: "This budget proposes $10.5 million to make child care more affordable, helping parents participate more fully in the formal labour force. The Government of the Northwest Territories will continue to advocate to the federal government to increase compensation levels of early child care staff to align with education assistants in the K-12 system."

Excerpt: "For the Department of Education, we also propose $1.07 million to fund teaching positions, and $849,000 to bolster the department’s Human Resource capabilities. We will provide $500,000 to support school bussing services, ensuring reliable transportation for students and making it easier for families to get their children to school on time every day —one of the most important things they can do for their future. We are also allocating $3 million to Education and $1.8 million for the Nunavut Arctic College to fund their IT infrastructure, supporting our students and educators to access modern systems that support learning and innovation."

Excerpt: "We are investing in upgrading school infrastructure across the Yukon, including the relocation of École Whitehorse Elementary School, building the Kêts’ádań Kų̀ School in Burwash Landing, and starting the work to consult on building a new school in downtown Whitehorse. We are supporting families and helping young people get the right start in life by increasing the number of early learning and childcare spaces. We are also investing in education professionals, continuing to support strong wages for early childhood educators, signing a new collective agreement with Yukon teachers, and hiring more educators and school staff."

Excerpt: "These increases are partially offset by a $67.5 million decrease in the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program due to construction delays, a $47.8 million decrease related to the Canada-Nova Scotia Early Learning and Child Care Agreement due to timing delays associated with various action plan initiatives, and a $12.3 million decrease in municipal contributions for correctional facilities and public housing related to the service exchange agreement"

Excerpt: "To provide the support students and teachers need and help stabilize classroom learning environments, the government is investing an additional $32.4 million for educational assistants and behavioural intervention mentors. Other investments include: An additional $19 million for a school lunch program, using local foods where possible; $10 million to ensure children and youth with exceptional needs and trauma receive consistent levels of high-quality support; Nearly $8.7 million to support early detection and intervention in matters where the well-being of children or youth may be at risk, using the child-centred approach at the core of the Child and Youth Well-Being Act; $200 million over five years as part of a larger program to subsidize more than 17,000 child-care spaces across various programs; An increase of nearly $16.4 million for more teachers to help address growth in student enrolment; $4 million to increase teacher recruitment and retention and address the shortage of teachers; An increase of just over $2.1 million for academic support teachers."

Excerpt: "Education and Early Childhood Learning reflects an increase of $247 million from the prior year budget, largely due to negotiating fair deals with educators and adding 630 more educators to the schools, increasing operating funding for schools by nearly five per cent to address growing enrolment, increased classroom
needs, a universal food program to help Manitoba kids learn, as well as a continued commitment to extending
the $10-a-day child care program to school-aged children on non-school days."