Question Period Note: NOVA SCOTIA’S IMPLEMENTATION OF A CANADA-WIDE EARLY LEARNING AND CHILD CARE SYSTEM

Negative reactions from for-profit child care providers in Nova Scotia

• The Government of Canada is committed to working with provinces and territories to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system that ensures that all families have access to high quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care, no matter where they live.
• Our agreement with Nova Scotia recognizes the importance of all licensed providers, including for-profit providers, as we work with provinces and territories to build this new system.
• Nova Scotia has taken steps to reduce parent fees by 25%, on average, as of January 1, 2022.

On July 13, 2021, the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia announced the 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 Canada-Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, which provides close to $605 million for child care in Nova Scotia over five years.

Under the Canada-wide agreement, Nova Scotia committed to moving towards a fully not-for-profit model. Nova Scotia has a large for-profit child care sector. There are currently 166 for-profit licensees managing approximately 200 centres, and 159 family home daycares managed by 14 agencies. The move to a provincially run, not-for-profit system represents a significant transformation of child care services in the province.

The province capped the total license capacity for for-profit providers as of July 13, 2021, and indicated that all participating child care providers would be governed by a new oversight organization, including the for-profit providers who would need to transition to a not-for-profit model to benefit from the Canada-wide system.

On January 14, 2022, Nova Scotia announced a 25%, on average, child care fee reduction Following this announcement, many for-profit providers mobilized, saying the proposed mandatory transition to not-for-profit status would make it difficult for them to control their businesses, including parent fees and staff wages. As a result, the province announced on February 18, 2022, that all licensed child care providers would be eligible for similar funding agreements to past years, as well as a one-time grant to offset the 25% fee reduction, with more engagement on the plan to transform the child care sector.

In May 2022, the Province created the Minister’s Early Learning and Child Care Engagement Table to inform, engage and support initiatives/issues related to the transformation of Nova Scotia’s early learning and child care system. The province also launched a voluntary pilot project allowing private operators to choose to dissolve and resume under an existing not-for-profit or new not-for-profit board of directors. The results of the pilot will be used to provide information on what is involved in such a transition and the best way forward. The Province continues to prioritize expansion in the not-for-profit sector, while supporting for-profit providers who wish to make the transition.

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