News & Stories: Policy Monitor

Excerpt: "The Ontario government is investing $1.3 billion to support new school buildings, school expansions and renovations across the province. This funding for infrastructure projects through the 2024-25 Capital Priorities Program will lead to the creation of more than 25,000 new student spaces and more than 1,600 new licensed child care spaces across 23 school boards."

Excerpt: "Continue implementing ChildCareBC to improve access to accessible, affordable
child care; Work with school districts to expand before- and after-school care programs across
the province using cost-effective models for parents and the public that leverage
existing school facilities and education workers."

Excerpt: "The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a review of the certification process for early childhood educators. The RFP is seeking a vendor to evaluate the current certification process for early childhood educators and propose recommendations to shift to a competency-based approach to certification. A high-quality early learning workforce is a key component to ensuring the affordability, inclusivity and quality of early learning and child care programming in Newfoundland and Labrador."

Excerpt: "Today, the Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada have announced that regulated child care facilities across the province will now receive up to $3,200 per month for every child eligible under the Enhanced Accessibility (EA) Grant, an increase of $1,200. The EA Grant assists regulated child care facilities in covering the additional costs associated with offering services to children who have intensive needs across various areas of development."

Excerpt: "The government’s investments to create a Canada-wide system for $10-a-day child care are supporting higher labour force participation, empowering women to pursue both motherhood and a career, and helping to ensure that every child in Canada has the best possible start in life. Currently eight provinces and territories are delivering regulated child care at an average cost of $10-a-day or less, and the others have reduced fees by at least 50 per cent. The federal government’s $10-a-day child care system is saving families across
Canada thousands of dollars per child per year with some families saving up to $14,300 per child, per year, lowering the costs of working, and in turn boosting economic growth and incomes as more parents, especially mothers, enter the workforce."

Excerpt: "This year, 2020 to 2021, has set the stage for a robust Canada-wide ELCC system, promising a sustainable framework for generations to come. The 2020 Fall Economic Statement (FES) introduced measures such as a one-time workforce funding of $420 million and permanent bilateral extension funding, establishing a solid foundation for future development. The federal government also provided $400 million in 2020 to 2021 for continued support through bilateral agreements, alongside $625 million in emergency pandemic aid to provinces and territories. Our commitment to innovation in ELCC continues with a $100 million investment to explore and develop new approaches to improve service quality and accessibility. Additionally, the 2020 FES announced $70 million over 5 years and $15 million per year ongoing for Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care governance and the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Secretariat; $75 million in 2021 to 2022 to improve the quality, accessibility, and inclusivity of Indigenous child care programs; and $210 million per year ongoing by making previous funding permanent at 2027 to 2028 levels, beginning in 2028 to 2029."

Excerpt: "The Government of Saskatchewan is introducing legislative changes to The Child Care Act, 2014 to further assist in providing Saskatchewan families with greater access to affordable, high-quality early learning and child care opportunities. "The proposed amendments support our government's efforts to increase access to regulated child care," Education Minister Everett Hindley said. "These changes will allow the ministry to expand the types of regulated services as we work toward the expansion target of 28,000 new child care spaces by 2026.""

Excerpt: "Today, the Honourable Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, accompanied by Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, Marie-France Lalonde, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament for Orléans, and Mona Fortier, Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier announced that the Government of Canada will invest approximately $108.5 million over the next three years to enhance and expand access to school food programs in Ontario. This agreement, under the federal government’s National School Food Program, will result in over 9.8 million more meals served to our kids, including 130,000 more school meals served to kids in Indigenous communities across Ontario, this school year."

Excerpt: "Our government is committed to providing Yukoners with high-quality early learning and child care that is affordable, accessible and inclusive. Throughout these discussions, my focus was on bringing the Yukon to the forefront. This includes highlighting the importance of the Government of Canada’s support for the Yukon’s school food programs. Once finalized, the new National School Food Program agreement will help expand these programs, ensuring that more children across the territory receive the nutritious meals they need. This program would benefit families, support the economy and directly invests in our children’s health, education and future."

Excerpt: "The ministers acknowledged that a thriving workforce is critical to ensuring high-quality and inclusive early learning and child care. Building on the work of last year’s meeting, ministers reviewed a jointly developed draft Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Workforce Strategy and discussed a path forward for working together on common goals to stabilize and support the early learning and child care workforce. Ministers recognized that each government can conduct its own engagements on the strategy, such as engaging further with Indigenous governments, communities and organizations. Ministers also recognized that they retain responsibility and authority over how the strategy is implemented in their respective jurisdictions."

Excerpt: "The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced an agreement with the Government of Prince Edward Island to increase school food programs in the province. This agreement, under the federal government’s National School Food Program, will provide over 1,500 more kids with healthy lunches, and over 800 more kids with healthy breakfasts and snacks this school year. With this agreement, a two-child family in Prince Edward Island will save $800 in grocery bills a year on average. This initial federal investment of approximately $7.1 million over three years will help families and keep more money in their pockets. This investment will also support critical program needs like food transportation, storage, and preparation equipment. All in all, this will result in an estimated 438,000 more meals served to kids across Prince Edward Island this school year."

Excerpt: "The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced an agreement with the Government of Ontario to increase school food programs in the province. This agreement, under the federal government’s National School Food Program, will deliver healthy meals to 160,000 more kids in Ontario this school year. With this agreement, a two-child family in the province will save $800 in grocery bills a year. This initial federal investment of $108.5 million over three years will help families and keep more money in their pockets. Along with increasing funding to school food programs in the province, this investment will also contribute to reduced costs for food transportation, storage, and preparation equipment. All in all, this will result in over 9.8 million more meals served to our kids. This includes 130,000 more school meals served to kids in Indigenous communities across Ontario this year."