News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Childcare Commitments: A strong, stable and ready workforce is essential to delivering on these commitments. To support labour force participation and skilled trades training and readiness, Canada and British Columbia commit to renegotiating the terms of the existing Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Canada-wide agreements to enable a stable and adequately resourced vision for the delivery of early learning and childcare in B.C. Canada and British Columbia will work to reach agreement on these terms through bilateral discussions led by the responsible ministers in each jurisdiction, including consideration for school-aged children."

Excerpt: "The Annual Statistical Review is a comprehensive and trustworthy document that policy makers, entrepreneurs, community and business leaders, and others repeatedly turn to for reliable data to support them in confidently making informed decisions, irrespective of the questions raised by global events. The Review provides readers with high-level information collected from over 100 data tables on a wide range of topics such as demography, labour, economic accounts, primary industry, manufacturing, and more. The information is compiled from a variety of sources, including Statistics Canada, provincial government departments, and the private sector. All tables are referenced to the source for those interested in more detailed information on these topics and to provide transparency to our process."

Excerpt: "To protect Ontario children, regulations under the Child Care and Early Years Act have been amended to implement new health and safety requirements in child care settings, including making sure emergency medications can be accessed quickly, expanding the list of serious criminal offences that prohibit an individual from working in child care and clarifying unacceptable conduct in licensed programs."

Excerpt: "“Over the last three months, the panel established its workplan and began engaging with key partners, employees, the public and school communities. This work included extensive research and a review of previous reports. I have reviewed the status report, and we will advance its initial recommendations as soon as possible. As outlined at the start of this process, this review is examining how the Department of Education supports learners at every stage, from kindergarten through Grade 12 and post-secondary and adult learners. The review is also examining how services are delivered across the territory’s three school authorities."

Excerpt: "In spring 2026, the Ontario government announced $1.6 billion to support 79 school construction projects, including 11 French-language school board projects, to address local student space pressures across the province. Sixty-seven projects were approved for $1.3 billion in provincial support through the 2025-26 capital priorities program, with the remaining 12 projects receiving funding of nearly $300 million through the 2026-27 program. The total funding amount includes $87 million in child care capital funding. The 79 approved projects will create over 29,000 new student spaces and over 1,900 new licensed child care spaces across Ontario."

Excerpt: "e Family Resource Network program consists of 70 networks made up of 131 partner agencies offering services
ranging from universal prevention to more targeted and intensive supports. Families are connected to resources that promote resilience, positive relationships and healthy development through parenting workshops, playgroups, mentoring, youth outreach, cultural activities and in-home supports. Programs are designed to reduce the risk of child maltreatment and support strong communities. Additionally, families have access to home visitation services that provide in-home parenting education and family support services to expectant parents and those with children 0 to 6 years of age. These programs help ensure children have a good foundation in their early years, youth have the resources they need, and parents and caregivers are supported in raising their families."

Excerpt: "Students in every public school will have access to healthy, affordable lunches when the final phase of the Nova Scotia School Lunch Program launches in high schools this September. For the 2026-27 school year, lunches will be available in all 372 public schools across the province, offering more than 133,000 students access to nutritious food during the school day."

Excerpt: "The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador is providing funding for a new child care centre at Memorial University’s Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook that will help increase access to affordable child care for families in western Newfoundland. The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is providing approximately $665,000 as part of its Operating Grant Program to ensure the new centre can provide $10-a-day child care for up to 30 children. An additional $92,000 is also being provided by the Provincial Government for equipment and supplies at the centre. The new child care centre, located in the Marina Redmond Centre, is anticipated to open by later this year."

Excerpt: "Today, I informed my provincial and territorial counterparts that the Government of Canada will invest up to $5.4 billion over two years (2026–27 and 2027–28), in addition to the more than $58 billion in funding through early learning and child care agreements with provinces and territories since 2021. This additional investment will help keep child care affordable for families and support the early childhood educators who make the system possible. It will also provide stability while federal, provincial, and territorial governments work together to strengthen the program for the future. Our focus is to ensure families across Canada continue to have access to affordable, high-quality, and inclusive early learning and child care programs."

Excerpt: "The Provincial Government has issued an expression of interest for membership on a new child care advisory panel that will help the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development improve the child care system. The panel will consist of child care operators who will help identify challenges and offer recommendations to the Minister and department on feasible solutions to benefit all children and families. The child care advisory panel will inform the development, implementation and oversight of child care initiatives within the province."

Excerpt: "The Manitoba government is investing $50,000 through the From the Ground Up – Safe Healthy Communities for ALL program to support The Pas Community Renewal Corporation, in developing and delivering after-school programming, including hiring staff, purchasing equipment, supplies and bundle boxes, Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard announced today."

Excerpt: "The National School Food Program is providing meals to up to 400,000 more kids every year. With these plans, total federal funding for provinces and territories has doubled from the 2024-25 fiscal year to $140 million, marking a major step forward in ensuring that more children have access to nutritious food at school, and that local farmers and local economies contribute to this. With support from the National School Food Program and provincial and territorial (PT) investments, more than 10,000 schools—approximately 80% of PT-operated schools in Canada—are offering school food programs this school year."