News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "Update and amend legislation designed to improve the well-being, safety, security, education and health of children. Enhance the tools, process and policies that impact how government and service providers deliver programs and services for children and youth."

Excerpt: "The Children First Act supports the health, safety, education, security and well-being of children in Alberta by enhancing legislation and policies that affect children and youth. It is an important step in continuing the process of transforming how government supports the health, safety and success of Alberta’s children."

Excerpt: "Government, stakeholders and service delivery partners have identified opportunities to enhance legislation, tools, processes and policies to improve the security, education, health, safety and well-being of children and youth in Alberta."

Alberta has launched Our Children, Our Future: Getting it Right Public Consultations on the Education Act. The government will hold forums in seven communities on education legislation.

Excerpt: "Starting Sept. 1, 2023, families with children in eligible half-day preschool and before- and after-school programs will save as much as an additional $145 per child, per month. The Province is providing the funding directly to participating child care centres so families do not need to apply to receive the savings."

Excerpt: "Early childhood professionals who completed training outside Canada or francophone Canadians who have documents in French can apply for a grant of as much as $2,500 at the same time as they apply for early childhood educator (ECE) certification with the B.C. ECE Registry. These grants can be used to have non-English documents, such as school transcripts and course descriptions, translated into English by MOSAIC B.C."

Excerpt: "The City of Fernie is pleased to announce $19 million in provincial and federal funding has been secured for a Provincial Pilot Project to create 100 new child care spaces and approximately 27 units of housing, prioritized for early childhood educators (ECEs)."

Excerpt: "As of July 2023, the benefit increased by an additional $250 per year for a two-parent family of four and as much as $750 for a single-parent family with two children. Approximately 95% of single-parent families in B.C. get the benefit, with payments averaging $2,254 over the year."

Excerpt: "This year’s Service Plan sees the ministry moving forward to improve the quality of programs delivered to children and their families across key service areas: Early Years; Services for Children and Youth with Special Needs; Child and Youth Mental Health; Child Safety, Family Support and Children in Care Services; Adoption Services and Youth Justice Services."

Excerpt: "Since launching the Families First Agenda, the BC government has had the opportunity to engage with British Columbians from across the province. Through the website, face-to-face meetings and by using social media, we have received thoughtful comments and practical, useful advice on how to improve our programs, refocus our planning, and better orient government so that our significant yearly investments of taxpayer money make a positive difference in the lives of British Columbians. In the Families First Agenda, we were clear that work to support British Columbia’s children is an essential part of our plan to support families."

Excerpt: "This focus on disciplinary thinking means that students will take part in actively building their own understanding of important concepts and topics. Social Studies covers many interesting topics with no agreed-upon answer, such as questions about the causes of major historical events or debates about which policy decisions government should make to address a societal problem. Using disciplinary thinking tools, students will learn to develop and support their own answers to these questions, as well as challenge the answers and information obtained through various sources."

Excerpt: "The new Provincial Office for the Early Years will focus on the needs of families with children up to age six and help ensure they have easy access to a range of early-years services no matter where they live in B.C., announced Minister of Children and Family Development Stephanie Cadieux at the UBC Early Years Conference in Vancouver."