Question Period Note: FRANCOPHONE DAY CARE SPACES IN NEW BRUNSWICK

What events have taken place since the release of the Radio-Canada article claiming a lack of Francophone early learning and child care spaces in New Brunswick

Canada-wide agreements with the provinces and territories, including New Brunswick, include clauses designed to protect and respect the rights of official language minority communities.

New Brunswick has indicated that any future call for proposals would be based on data that reflects the needs of New Brunswick families.

The federal government continues to work with the provinces and territories to support official language minority communities, ensuring that their needs are considered as we work together to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system.

If Pressed on actions taken by the federal government to increase ELCC spaces in official language minority communities (OLMCs)

On March 19, 2024, Bill C-35, the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act, became law.

The Act recognizes the unique needs of official language minority communities and includes important commitments to supporting ELCC programs and services for official language minority communities.

The Government of Canada will continue to work with provinces and territories, experts, and communities, to ensure that child care is fully inclusive of the needs of all children, including children in official language minority communities.

To support the goal of ensuring access to high-quality, affordable, flexible, and inclusive early learning and child care (ELCC), the Government of Canada is contributing an estimated $492 million for child care in New Brunswick over five years.

The Governments of Canada and New Brunswick are making licensed child care more affordable for families in the province, working towards their goal of reaching an average of $10-a-day fees for licensed child care by March 31, 2026.

As of June 1, 2022, New Brunswick reduced out-of-pocket child care fees for licensed child care by an average of 50%, saving some families up to an estimated maximum of $3,600 annually per child compared to 2019 fees.

Early childhood education plays a critical role in transmitting the language, building identity and maintaining the demographic weight of Francophones in the country. Canada-wide ELCC agreements with the provinces and territories, including New Brunswick's, include clauses designed to protect and respect the rights of official language minority communities, based on the priorities and specific context of each jurisdiction.

This issue was of concern and garnering media attention following the release of New Brunswick’s first call for proposals launched in early 2023. The province hadn’t allocated spaces to Francophones in proportion to their presence in the province (30%), notably due to a lack of data at the time.

As part of the second call for proposals, launched in December 2023, the allocation grid provided more spaces for Francophones. During the fall 2023 Implementation Committee meeting with Francophone stakeholders, the distribution of spaces for Francophones was discussed, but no major concerns were shared.

One of New Brunswick's commitments is to ensure that the process for creating new spaces considers official language minority communities, so that they have access to a number of spaces equivalent to or greater than their proportion of the province's population. In addition, all actions identified throughout New Brunswick’s Canada-wide action plan apply to both francophone and anglophone linguistic communities, unless otherwise specified.

The Government of Canada continues to work with the provinces and territories to support official language minority communities, ensuring that their needs are considered in the establishment of a Canada-wide early learning and child care system.

On March 19, 2024, Bill C-35, the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act became law. It enshrines the principles of a Canada-wide ELCC system into law. To note, New Brunswick officials from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development testified during the Senate committee study at the Socials Affairs, Science and Technology Committee (SOCI) in support of the Act. When asked about the number of spaces created for francophones, New Brunswick officials did not have the current space creation allotment for francophones but instead referred Senators to the second call for proposals that would allow for more francophone spaces.

This legislation marks an important milestone in the Government of Canada’s commitment to ensuring that families have enduring access to affordable, inclusive, and high-quality early learning and child care, no matter where they live.

The federal legislation is grounded in the FPT Multilateral Framework which recognizes the unique needs of French and English linguistic minority communities. The legislation includes important commitments to supporting ELCC programs and services for OLMCs, including at clause 7 (par 7(1)c) and 7(3)), which speaks to the principles which are to guide federal investments in ELCC. The funding clause (clause 8(1)) also includes a specific reference to long-term funding for ELCC programs and services for Indigenous peoples and official language minority communities. Finally, OLMCs are reflected in section 11(1) of the Act in the context of nominations to the National Advisory Council.

The Act also reinforces the Government of Canada commitment to work in collaboration with Indigenous peoples to establish and maintain ELCC systems that are rooted in Indigenous knowledge, cultures and languages and led by Indigenous peoples. This is a key principle in the co-developed Indigenous ELCC Framework and a binding commitment under the Indigenous Languages Act.

The Government of Canada is entirely supportive of protections for OLMCs.

On February 1, 2023 an article titled “Garderie : plus de places chez les anglophones que les francophones, dénonce un organisme” was published.

Following the initial call for proposals, various organizations denounced the minimal share of new places granted to the French speaking sector by the province through their space allocation grid.

The organizations advocated for the situation to be resolved during the next call for proposals scheduled for fall 2023.

As part of the second call for proposals, launched in December 2023, the allocation grid provided more spaces for Francophones.

During the fall 2023 Implementation Committee meeting with Francophone stakeholders, the distribution of spaces for Francophones was discussed, but no major concerns were shared.

On November 8, 2023, New Brunswick officials from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development testified at the Senate (Socials Affairs, Science and Technology Committee) in support of Bill C-35 the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act. When asked about the number of spaces created for francophones, New Brunswick officials referred Senators to the second call for proposals that would allow for more francophone spaces.