BC Government announces how it is bringing downs fees by 50% in accordance with federal agreement
BC Education Minister Jennifer Whiteside and BC Child Care Minister Katrina Chen recently announced that the average cost of early learning and child care will go down to $21 per day. In a media release, BC child care advocates applauded the announcement saying the...
Child Care Now’s Pledge on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Today, on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Child Care Now reaffirms our support for the Indigenous Early Learning and Child Care Framework Agreement and recommits to work to work with others in answering the Calls for Justice, issued by the National Inquiry...
Alternative federal budget puts forward measures to jump start transformation of child care in Canada
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has released its Alternative Federal Budget (AFB) for 2023 setting out “a bold approach to addressing the concerns that directly affect Canadians.” The Alternative Budget, entitled Rising to the Challenge: An Agenda for...
Educators in Nova Scotia rally for proper compensation and better working conditions
Early Childhood Educators and child care workers in Nova Scotia rallied for proper compensation and better working conditions on Thursday, September 8th. Child Care Now Nova Scotia walked alongside them. Educators are demanding that the Nova Scotia government act...
Commentary: Advocating to ensure governments make affordable child care accessible to all is a collective responsibility
By Morna Ballantyne, Executive Director, Child Care Now One year ago, the Government of Canada entered into a new five-year child care funding agreement with the BC government, providing the first installment of federal money to make licensed early learning and child...
Advocates appeal to University of Ottawa to save campus child care centre from closure
Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, Child Care Now, and Ottawa child care advocates are calling on the University of Ottawa to find an alternative home for Garderie Bernadette, which is at risk of closure because of the planned demolition of its home on the...
Ministers responsible for child care urged to make workforce crisis their first priority
The critical shortage of qualified early learning and child care educators across Canada is a major obstacle to fulfilling the Government of Canada’s promise to build a high quality $10 a day child care system that all young children can access, says Child Care Now,...
Child Care fees on track to drop substantially in most big cities, but not all are projected to meet targets: new report
Child care fees in Canadian cities are on track to drop significantly, but some provincial child care action plans fall short of meeting the federal government’s target to bring down fees by an average of 50 per cent, says a new fee study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).
Mould, Pesticides, Toxic Chemical Exposures Reported in Survey of Canadian Child Care Professionals
Nearly half of some 2,000 professionals in child care programs across Canada who responded to a recent national survey report unhealthy conditions for children, according to data released on national Healthy Environments for Learning Day (HELD). Educators, support...
Ottawa park named after Early Childhood Educator, Cindy Mitchell
Ottawa City Council has approved the renaming of Sir Wilfred Laurier Park to Cindy Mitchell Park on April 13, 2022. This renaming is in recognition of Cindy Mitchell’s extensive service to the community. Mitchell was an Early Childhood Educator, working at Bettye Hyde...
What federal budget 2022 said about early learning and child care
Federal Budget 2022, tabled on April 7, 2022, says the federal government’s previously announced $30 billion investment in early learning and child care (ELCC) will achieve “‘a marked improvement in labour market participation by women with children.” However, child...
Ontario joins Canada-wide early learning and child care system
The Ontario government signed a child care funding agreement with the Government of Canada on March 28, 2022, days before the March 31st deadline. Ontario will lower parent fees for licensed programs by 25% effective April 1, 2022, and another 50% by the end of the...
Media Release: Child care advocates celebrate the signing of thirteen Canada-wide early learning and child care agreements
Child care advocates celebrate the signing of the Canada-Ontario child care funding agreement, but also warn that the Ontario government’s implementation plan is not yet adequate to achieve the promised 86,000 new licensed spaces. “It will be impossible for Ontario to...
Parent fees reduced in Northwest Territories: Space expansion the next hurdle
The governments of Canada and Northwest Territories (NWT) recently announced that fees for regulated child care programs for children under 6 years of age will be reduced by an average of 50 per cent. This reduction is retroactive to January 1, 2022, twelve months...
Federal child care legislation in the works
Child Care Now is calling on the federal government to engage in a full public consultation process prior to tabling Canada’s first-ever federal child care law. In February, federal officials circulated a government discussion paper on legislation to a small number...