Question Period Note: Release of the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) of Canada’s Audit Findings on the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) system.

What is the Government of Canada’s reaction to the findings following the OAG’s audit of the Canada-wide ELCC system?

The Government of Canada welcomes the report by the Office of the Auditor General and is pleased that it captures the significant progress and savings achieved for families under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system to date.

While the Office of the Auditor General concluded that ESDC fulfilled its responsibilities to support Early Learning and Child Care across Canada, the Government recognizes how the Office of the Auditor General’s recommendations will improve the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system and is already working to address and implement them.

IF PRESSED ON THE OAG’S RECCOMENDATIONS

Although incredible progress has been made to date through the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system, the Government of Canada has more work to do to improve its reporting practices.

Furthermore, the Government of Canada must also improve its communication about the federal investments in the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system, and the progress being made to improve child care and reduce costs for Canadian families.

ESDC officials are actively working with all our provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to strengthen the data which they report.

IF PRESSED ON RISK TO MEETING 250K SPACE CREATION COMMITMENT

Under the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care agreements, provinces and territories have until March 31, 2026 to create 250,000 new child care spaces.

The Office of the Auditor General’s audit was conducted with two years of reporting remaining in the agreements, in which significant space creation is planned. Therefore, it is too early to conclude that space commitments will not be met.

As of October 2025, provinces and territories have announced more than 200,000 new child care spaces, of which more than 125,000 spaces have been created.

The Government of Canada will continue working with its partners to support the creation of new regulated child care spaces.

IF PRESSED ON STATUS OF EXTENSION AGREEMENTS

In February and March 2025, the Government of Canada negotiated extensions to the existing Early Learning and Child Care agreements with 10 of 13 provinces and territories.

Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan chose not to sign agreements to extend at the time.

The Government of Canada is committed to working together with provinces and territories and Indigenous partners to protect an important program that makes life more affordable for families across Canada.

On July 18, 2024, Canada’s Auditor General, Karen Hogan, announced in a letter that the OAG was launching an audit of the Canada-wide -ELCC system. As per the OAG’s website, “the audit seeks to determine whether Employment and Social Development Canada fulfilled its responsibilities to support early learning and child care across Canada”.

At the outset of the Canada-wide ELCC system, the data and performance measurement systems used by provinces and territories were at different stages of development, and some jurisdictions had limited or no data capacity in this space.

Building not only a Canada-wide ELCC system but also robust reporting mechanisms takes time. The Government expects that data and performance measurement capabilities will continue to improve as the Canada-wide ELCC system matures.

The Government of Canada acknowledges that many parents have issues with access to child care options and are experiencing long waitlists. The Government is actively working with all PTs towards the goal of ensuring the Canada-wide ELCC system provides access to all types of families no matter where they are.

Each agreement’s Action Plan has a space creation commitment. This approach balances the Canada-wide objectives with the flexibility PTs need to create spaces in line with their child care priorities, and community needs. The agreements with provinces and territories contain commitments to eventually ensure equitable representation of vulnerable and diverse families and on the development of inclusion plans to support this goal.

Through ongoing dialogue and multilateral discussions, the Government is working with provinces and territories to strengthen reporting and establish clear and consistent indicators for the system. This information is foundational to transparent communication about the ELCC system and what it is achieving for families in Canada.

Following the review and compilation of results achieved by provinces and territories, the Government of Canada prepares a national progress report, including key information from each PT annual report, and communicates results against targets committed to under the ELCC Agreements, including the number of new spaces created.

The Government of Canada will continue to work with its partners to support the creation of new regulated child care spaces and to strengthen the Canada-wide system. Based on annual reporting through the third program year, provinces and territories have created over 125,000 new child care spaces, representing more than half of the 250,000 new regulated spaces the Government of Canada aims to support by March 2026.

On October 21, 2025, the OAG released its performance audit of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care system.

Through its audit, the OAG has concluded that the Government of Canada fulfilled its responsibilities to support early learning and child care across Canada.

The OAG also provided the Government of Canada with three recommendations to improve its data and results monitoring and reporting on the Canada-wide ELCC system.