Question Period Note: EARLY LEARNING AND CHILD CARE MEASURES ANNOUNCED IN BUDGET 2024

What key measures were announced in Budget 2024 that support the government’s commitment to building a Canada-wide early learning and child care system?

• Initiatives announced in Budget 2024 include a total investment of more than $1.1 billion to increase access to early learning and child care and support a qualified early childhood educator workforce.

• These efforts represent a whole-of-government approach as the Government of Canada works with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to build a system that gives every child in Canada the best possible start in life.

• Budget 2024 demonstrates the government’s commitment to ensuring that all families in Canada have access to high-quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child care no matter where they live.

If pressed on the Child Care Expansion Loan Program

• Budget 2024 proposes a Child Care Expansion Loan Program providing up to $1 billion in low-cost loans and $60 million in non-repayable contributions to public and not-for-profit child care providers to build more child care spaces and renovate their existing child care centres.

• Budget 2024 also proposes to reallocate up to $41.5 million over four
years, starting in 2025-26, and up to $15 million ongoing to establish a new capacity building program to help providers apply for funding through the Child Care Expansion Loan Program.

If pressed on student loan forgiveness

• Early childhood educators are the cornerstone of the Canada-wide system.

• Budget 2024 announced the government’s intent to introduce legislative amendments to expand the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Program to early childhood educators who work in rural and remote communities.

• This represents an investment of $48 million over four years, starting in 2025-26, and $15.8 million ongoing.

• Over 3,000 early
childhood educators who work in rural and remote communities are expected to benefit every year from this investment.

If pressed on increasing training for early childhood educators

• Early childhood educators are critical to the success of the early learning and child care system.

• The Government of Canada acknowledges the nationwide challenges faced by child care providers in accessing a qualified early childhood educator workforce to effectively deliver their programs.

That is why Budget 2024 proposes to provide $10 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to increase training for early childhood educators.
If pressed on child care on CAF bases
• The Government of Canada recognizes that supporting Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and their families on the home front is key to delivering on the renewed vision for defence announced in the recent defence policy update.

• That’s why Budget 2024 proposes $100 million over five years to support child care services for CAF personnel and their families on military bases across Canada.

As part of Budget 2021, the Government of Canada made a transformative investment of nearly $30 billion over five years to build a Canada-wide ELCC system with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners.

On March 19, 2024, Bill C-35: An Act respecting early learning and child care in Canada, received Royal Assent. The legislation marks an important milestone in the federal government’s commitment to working with provinces, territories and Indigenous peoples to ensure families across Canada have enduring access to affordable, inclusive and high-quality early learning and child care for generations to come.

Budget 2024 proposes further investments to increase access to child care and support the early learning and child care workforce:
• Child Care Expansion Loan Program
o Up to $1 billion in low-cost loans and $60 million in non-repayable contributions to public and not for-profit child care providers to build more child care spaces and renovate their existing child care centres.
o Budget 2024 also proposes to reallocate up to $41.5 million over four years, starting in 2025-26, and up to $15 million ongoing from within Employment and Social Development Canada to establish a new capacity building program to help providers apply for funding through the Child Care Expansion Loan Program, and to support Early Learning and Child Care research initiatives.
• Student Loan Forgiveness
o Budget 2024 announces the government’s intent to introduce legislative amendments to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act and the Canada Student Loans Act to expand the reach of the Canada Student Loan Forgiveness Program to early childhood educators who work in rural and remote communities. The cost of this measures is estimated to be $48 million over four years, starting in 2025-26, and $15.8 million ongoing.
• Increase training for early childhood educators
o Budget 2024 proposes to provide $10 million over two years, starting in 2024-25, to Employment and Social Development Canada’s Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program to increase training for early childhood educators.

Budget 2024 also proposes:
• $100 million over five years, starting in 2024-25, to DND for child care services for Canadian Armed Forces personnel and their families; and
• a Sectoral Table on the Care Economy that will consult and provide recommendations to the federal government on concrete actions to better support the care economy, including with regard to early learning and child care.

These efforts represent a whole-of-government approach to working with provincial, territorial, and Indigenous partners to build a Canada-wide system of child care that gives every child in Canada the best possible start in life. More details about these announcements will be made available in the future.

• On March 28, 2024, the Prime Minister announced three new measures to assist in building more affordable child care spaces, a new $1B Child Care Expansion Loan Program, $48M student loan forgiveness for early childhood educators (ECEs) and $10M to increase training for ECEs.

• Subsequently on April 8, 2024, the Prime Minister announced $100M to improve child care access for Canadian Armed Forces personnel and their families.

• On April 16, 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, released Budget 2024 which included further details on these measures and others.