Question Period Note: Child Care

PUBLICATION DU RAPPORT ANNUEL DE CAMPAGNE 2000 : DE GRANDES AMBITIONS POUR L'ÉRADICATION DE LA PAUVRETÉ DES ENFANTS ET DES FAMILLES

• To help Canadian children get the best start in life and better support Canadian families, Budgets 2016 and 2017 announced investments of $7.5 billion over 11 years, starting in 2017-2018, to support and create more high-quality, affordable child care across the country, particularly for families more in need.

• On June 12, 2017, the Government of Canada announced a historic agreement with provincial and territorial governments on a Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework. The Framework will be seeking to increase the quality, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, and inclusivity in early learning and child care, in particular for families that need child care the most.

• Our investment with provinces and territories will lead to the creation of up to 40,000 more affordable child care spaces, which will allow thousands of mothers to access the labour market. We are well on track to deliver on those results.

• We are also working closely with Indigenous partners for the creation of a culturally appropriate approach to early learning and child care that provides Indigenous children in Canada with a solid foundation for future success

Campaign 2000 was created in 1991 to increase public awareness and monitor progress on the 1989 unanimous House of Commons’ resolution to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Campaign 2000 is a non-partisan, national network of 120 local, regional, and national organizations interested in child and family issues, committed to eradicating child poverty in Canada.

Campaign 2000 has been tracking progress against child and family poverty through annual report cards since 1991. The national report card is released on or around November 24th to mark the passage of the 1989 resolution.

Report Recommendations
On November 20, 2018, Campaign 2000 released its annual Report Card entitled Bold Ambitions for Child and Family Poverty Reduction. The Report noted that the release of Opportunity for All is a first step towards poverty reduction and acknowledged the Government’s improvements to the social policy landscape since 2015: including the introduction of the Canada Child Benefit; the National Housing Strategy; Early Learning and Child Care Agreements; improved seniors benefits; and the inclusion of GBA+ analysis in all departments.

However, the Report suggests that existing investments are insufficient and calls on the federal government to develop a clear and ambitions anti-poverty implementation plan with accelerated targets. It also recommends:

• strengthening the Poverty Reduction Strategy through strategic investments, including an investment of $6 billion in Budget 2019, to meet more ambitious poverty reduction targets;
• ensuring CPRS legislation is passed prior to the 2019 election and contains a clear implementation plan to achieve poverty reduction targets. The legislation should also identify key roles for all levels of government;
• collaborating with First Nations, Inuit and Métis governments and Indigenous organizations to develop plans to prevent, reduce and eradicate child and family poverty in Indigenous communities;
• increasing the CCB so that it, in combination with a proposed new benefit called the Dignity Dividend, achieves a 50% reduction in child poverty by 2020, according to the Census Family Low Income Measure-After Tax calculated through taxfiler data;
• in 2019-20, transfer $1 billion to provinces/ territories/Indigenous communities to build accessible, affordable, high quality, inclusive early learning and childcare (ELCC) with the understanding that earmarked funds for ELCC will grow by an additional $1 billion annually;
• increasing funding for the Canada Social Transfer by $4 billion and remove arbitrary growth restrictions, provide sufficient, stable and predictable funding that recognizes regional economic variations, and ensure that both federal and provincial governments are accountable for meeting their human rights obligations to provide adequate income support for all low income Canadians;
• creating sustaining, quality employment opportunities and restore minimum wage within federally regulated industries, set at $15/hour and inflation-indexed annually;
• enhancing the National Housing Co-investment Fund with an additional $1 billion in grant money to provide between 10,000 and 15,000 new units annually; allocating $1 billion/year to a new supportive housing initiative for vulnerable populations; and allocating $1.5 billion to the immediate implementation of the Canada Housing Benefit;
• implementing an enhanced Medicare program that includes national universal pharmacare, dentistry and various rehabilitation services.
• addressing growing income inequality by continuing to restore fairness to the personal income taxation system and re-introducing the principle of taxation based on ability to pay.

Early Learning and Child Care
Federal-Provincial/Territorial (F-P/T) governments have recognized the importance of ELCC for a number of years, negotiating a series of F-P/T agreements, including the National Children’s Agenda (1997), the First Ministers’ Agreement on Early Childhood Development (2000), the Aboriginal Early Childhood Development Agreement (2002), the Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care (2003), and bilateral agreements-in-principle (2005) with nine of ten provinces. In 2006, the federal government replaced the bilateral agreements with direct support to families and further increased the Canada Social Transfer in 2007 by $250 million per year to create child care spaces.

Since then, many provinces and territories (P/Ts) have made significant investments in ELCC. However, challenges remain with respect to availability, affordability and quality of child care services, particularly in some areas and among certain populations. Recent statistics show that only one in four children in Canada has access to regulated child care. Intervening early to promote child development from the prenatal period to age six can have long-term benefits that can extend throughout children’s lives. Research shows that there are positive relationships between quality early learning and child care, parental labour market participation and child development outcomes. This is particularly true for vulnerable children and children from low-income families.

The F-P/T Ministers responsible for Social Services met in February 2016 and agreed to task officials to develop a Framework on Early Learning and Child Care. The Framework should propose a flexible approach to early learning and child care, a common vision that highlights the importance of ELCC programs and services, particularly for those more in need, along with guiding principles and key actions to undertake to support these principles, sensitive to the varying circumstances and needs across the country.

On June 12, 2017, Federal, Provincial/Territorial Ministers announced an agreement on a Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework to make enhancements to provincial and territorial early learning and child care systems that will improve the lives of Canadian children and their families. The implementation of this Framework will be supported by Government of Canada investments announced in Budgets 2016 and 2017 totaling $7.5 billion over 11 years to support and create more high-quality, affordable child care across the country.
The Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework sets the foundation for governments to work towards a shared long term vision where all children across Canada can experience the enriching environment of quality early learning and child care. Governments have committed to increase the quality, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, and inclusivity in early learning and child care, in particular for families that need child care the most.
The federal government has entered into three year bilateral agreements with each province and territory providing $1.2 billion from 2017-18 to 2019-20 for early learning and child care programs. Governments will report annually on progress made in relation to the Framework and bilateral agreements.
The Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework, co-developed with Indigenous partners and jointly released on September 17, 2018 complements the Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework.

28.9% of children 0-5 has access to regulated early learning and child care (ELCC)
Budget 2016 and 2017 announced an investment of $7.5 billion over 11 years, starting in 2017-2018, to support and create more high-quality, affordable child care across the country, particularly for families more in need.
This includes investments of:
• $95 million to close data gaps to better understand child care challenges and needs and track progress;
• $100 million in ELCC innovation; and
• A portion will be dedicated to strengthening culturally appropriate early learning and child care for Indigenous children.

On June 12, 2017 Federal-Provincial/Territorial Ministers Responsible for Early Learning and Child Care signed a Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework.

Over the next three years, these investments could support up to 40,000 new subsidized child care spaces to assist low- and modest-income families. As a result, thousands of parents are more likely to enter the labour force once child care is made more affordable.

On September 17, 2018, the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework was jointly released by the Federal Government and three National Indigenous Organization leaders

Ontario June 16, 2017 $434.6M/3 years
Support access to affordable quality childcare
Provide access at no cost to EarlyON centre programs
Support ECE qualification upgrades
Create Regional Centres of Excellence

Prince Edward Island August 29, 2017 $10.5M/3 years
Support Access, with a focus on vulnerable children such as infants, pre-schoolers, children whose parents work seasonally or non-standard hours
Provide training and quality enhancement grant

New Brunswick August 30, 2017 $29.8M/3 years
Establish Early Learning Centres that will serve as a model of higher quality early learning and child care
Establish Parent Advisory Boards that will support each facility with an Early Learning Centre designation
Provide more spaces for infants and toddlers

Nunavut September 20, 2017 $7M/3 years
Support childcare facilities and lower parental fees
Create child care spaces in underserved communities
Develop programming resources including culturally-based program material for facilities

Newfoundland and Labrador December 15, 2017 $22.5M/3 years
Increase the number of regulated child care spaces by expanding operating grants
Encourage upgrading of qualifications
Develop and implement a new quality improvement program

Nova Scotia January 10, 2018 $35.5M/3 years
Make child care more accessible and affordable for Nova Scotian families
Support quality through workforce development
Imbed inclusion in early learning and child care environments

Yukon
February 7, 2018 $7M/3 years
Support access to affordable quality childcare
Improve the quality of early learning and child care
Provide inclusive child care programs

Manitoba February 23, 2018 $47M/3years
Create affordable child care to support lower-income, French language and newcomer families as well as underserved communities
Build sector capacity through education, training and skill development
Develop a rural and Northern strategy to improve access to high quality and affordable child care services
Develop a new service and funding approach to support inclusive, active and meaningful participation of children with varying abilities

British Columbia February 23, 2018 $153M/3 years
Improve access to low-cost child care
Increase the quality by supporting students in obtaining or upgrading Early Childhood Educators certification
Enhance equity through targeted investment in underserved communities

Saskatchewan March 16, 2018 $41M/3 years
Establishing/expanding access to new child care spaces
Enhancing the quality of child care experiences for children
Inclusive early learning opportunities for preschool-aged children who require intensive supports
Expanding Francophone child care for French minority communities

Quebec March 29, 2018 $262.2M/3 years
Create or accelerate the creation of 5,800 new child care spaces.
Improve services for families affected by autism spectrum disorder.
Enhance psychology services for vulnerable youth.

Northwest Territories April 2, 2018 $7.4M/3 years
Increase in the number of trained, quality early childhood educators in the Territory
Develop cultural resources that will be shared with all licenced centre-based programs
Support new child care spaces and increased utilization rates of existing centre-based programs

Alberta April 12, 2018 $136.8M/3 years
Expand from 22 ELCC Centres to approximately 100 across the province
Offer improvements in child care including flexible and extended hours