News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: " Revenue from Ordinary Recoveries is forecast to be $96.5 million higher than Budget Estimates. This is primarily due to an increase of $101.4 million in PYAs, $33.6 million from Emergency Management primarily due to federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangements (DFAA) program, and $12.6 million from Cyber Security and Digital Solutions mainly due to One Person One Record and hardware and software purchases on behalf of Nova Scotia Health. These increases are partially offset by decreases of $37.9 million from Municipal Affairs, primarily due to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program due to shifts in cashflows, and $27.2 million in Education and Early Childhood Development mainly associated with the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreements, due to construction delays."

Excerpt: "Supporting child care and K-12 education: Budget 2026 includes $634 million in new funding for teachers, student services, and to support inclusive learning as the number of inclusive learning students enrolled is on the rise; A $167-million investment in the Classroom Enhancement Fund will result in more teachers for everyone, as well as special education teachers and teacher psychologists and counsellors; Another $3.9 billion in capital funding is allocated for seismic replacements and upgrades as well as projects to address enrolment growth in B.C.’s fastest-growing communities; Budget 2026 provides a $330-million lift to ChildCareBC to stabilize the programs and services that families rely on as government works to modernize B.C.’s child care system. This stabilization is critical as provinces and territories continue negotiations with the federal government to drive flexibility and resilience across the system. This funding will maintain lower fees, and the spaces and support for operators and educators achieved over the past eight years."

Excerpt: "Starting July 2027, a new income-tested B.C. Children and Youth Disability Supplement will also become available to families with any child under age 18 who is eligible for the federal Disability Tax Credit. The supplement will provide up to $6,000 per year (based on the level of family net income), which families can use to pay for therapies, supports and services they believe are most helpful. The new supplement is designed to support families with middle and low incomes."

Excerpt: "The Manitoba government is increasing its investment in schools by $79.8 million for the 2026-27 school year, Education and Early Childhood Minister Tracy Schmidt announced today. “Our government is committed to making sure every Manitoba family can count on strong, stable public schools, year after year. We are meeting the needs of students and communities by building new schools and feeding kids with our universal school food program,” said Schmidt. “This is good news for teachers, school divisions and families while building a brighter future for Manitoba’s students.” The Manitoba government is allocating $11.4 million in public school funding to support divisions most affected by teacher salary harmonization. Salary harmonization will be implemented in the 2026-27 school year. Salary harmonization standardizes teacher pay scales across school divisions to help minimize disparities."

Excerpt: "The reports summarize the almost 11,000 responses received by the anglophone sector and more than 3,000 responses received by the francophone sector. “We are committed to creating a collective vision for education, along with our partners in the early learning and child-care sector, teachers and other education professionals, stakeholders, experts and parents,” said Johnson. “These new education plans will play a significant role in the direction of New Brunswick education for years to come.”"

Excerpt: "The provincial government signed a new five-year deal in November to keep the $10-a-day program going. Many provinces signed agreements months earlier, but Saskatchewan’s Education Minister said the province was holding out to get a better deal. The new deal includes a base funding increase to help with inflationary costs and an expansion to the age limit so kids who turn six can stay in the program until they start school. Werner said the delay may have contributed to a lack of new spaces opening in the last while, because providers wouldn’t want to go through all the work of planning and funding if the program was going away. “All of that gets put on hold – we don’t want to go into a bunch of debt and then not know if the funding is even going to be in place,” she explained."

Excerpt: "The ministers reviewed the progress achieved in all jurisdictions since 2021 to increase access and improve affordability of child care for families in Canada including initiatives under the initial set of Canada-wide agreements. Ministers also acknowledged the need to get this right for Canadian families, given the pressures facing families, providers and governments amid ongoing global economic disruption. Under this Canada-wide system partnership, all jurisdictions made substantial progress to improve child care affordability by reducing fees by at least 50% resulting in families saving thousands per child, per year, varying by jurisdiction. Furthermore, access to affordable child care allows more parents, particularly mothers, to participate in the labour force and achieve greater economic security. Thanks in part to the Canada-wide system, the participation of mothers with young children in the labour force reached a near record high in 2025."

Excerpt: "ECEs and other members of the child care workforce are the heart of B.C.’s child care system. Since launching the Early Care and Learning Recruitment and Retention Strategy in 2018, the Province has made significant investments – alongside federal partners – to support and strengthen the child care workforce, including: Wage enhancements for ECEs; Specialized certification grants for Infant & Toddler and Special Needs Educators; Expanded access to post-secondary ECE programs, including dual credit courses for high school students and bursaries to assist with the costs of education; Streamlined pathways for international applicants to become certified as ECEs in
B.C."

Excerpt: "On February 24, 2025, the Government of Yukon, in partnership with the Government of Canada, signed a five-year extension agreement for the Canada-Yukon Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which will now run through March 31, 2031. This agreement will provide the Yukon with approximately $74 million, including a three per cent annual funding increase for four years starting in 2027–28. This funding is aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the early learning and child care system in the territory and supports the final year of the Infrastructure Fund (2026–27), which is critical for further strengthening child care services. “This extension builds on the universal child care system that our government introduced in April 2021, part of a $25 million annual investment in our early learning and child care system to provide access to high-quality, inclusive and affordable licensed early learning and child care to all Yukon families. It also builds on the Canada-Yukon Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, signed in July 2024 with the Government of Canada, which is providing nearly $42 million over five years to support the growth of the Yukon’s child care system and the professional development of early childhood educators and to ensure that all families have access to an average of $10 a day out-of-pocket parent fees for full-time regulated early learning and child care spaces for children under age six."

Excerpt: "The Government of Nunavut’s Department of Education is pleased to announce a five-year extension of federal early learning and child care funding agreements totaling $109.9 million. The extension of these funding agreements will support the ongoing implementation of important Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) initiatives: $10-a-day Child Care to keep child care affordable; ELCC Wage Scale to value and strengthen the workforce; ELCC Infrastructure Funding Program to increase access to licensed child care; Support inclusion and equity in ELCC programs; Support the development and delivery of high quality ELCC programs through the ELCC Quality Framework Action Plan."

Excerpt: "Under the Canada–Nunavut Agreement, an investment of close to $8.5 million has been made in Nunavut. This funding will help the territory offer quality French as a minority language and French as a second language education, from preschool to the post-secondary level. An investment by the Government of Nunavut is also planned to support the aims of the Agreement. Bilateral agreements on minority-language education and second-language instruction have been in place with the Government of Nunavut for many years and support the territory in delivering activities aimed at teaching French in a minority situation and learning a second official language."

This curriculum policy replaces The Kindergarten Program, 2016. Starting in the 2026-27 school year, all
Kindergarten programs will be based on the expectations outlined in this curriculum policy.