Policy Monitor

The Policy Monitor tracks Federal, Provincial and Territorial early childhood policy initiatives, developments and announcements.

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British Columbia
Excerpt: "As well, to assist hard-working parents and guardians, to strengthen our economy, and to assist businesses with recruitment and retention, we’re moving forward with plans to provide a quality, accessible, and affordable child care plan for families. Our first step is moving forward with $20 million in new child care investments that will increase our spending on early childhood development and child care to $330 million this year and support more than 4,000 new child care spaces."

Speech from the Throne

British Columbia
Excerpt: "We will deliver a provincewide universal child care program that is safe, accessible and affordable. We will start by creating more spaces to help families waiting months or years for quality care and training more early childhood educators. And this fall, government will consult with families and child care providers on the best way forward."
Excerpt: "Under this agreement, the federal government will invest close to $30 million to improve early learning and child care for preschool-aged children in New Brunswick. The province will contribute an additional $41 million for a total of $71 million; Investments will transform at least 300 current child care providers into designated New Brunswick Early Learning Centres which will provide more quality spaces, have lower fee structures, and implement inclusion policies and guidelines for francophone minority communities. Funding will also be used to provide professional development opportunities for early child care educators and to support other initiatives to improve early learning and child care in the province."
Highlights: More spaces for infants and pre-schoolers - $3.6 million; More access for children who are most vulnerable - $2.5 million; More supports for children with unique needs - $1.5 million; More support for parents who work non-standard hours - $1.5 million; More supports for the acadian and francophone community - $180,000; More supports for newcomer families - $72,000; Training for early childhood educators - $215,000; Monitoring access and quality - $882,000.
"The agreement allocates $10.5 million, over three years, to Prince Edward Island for early learning and child care investments. The Island's funding focus will be on early learning and child care access for vulnerable children such as infants, pre-schoolers, children whose parents work seasonally or non-standard hours, and under-served populations including Newcomer families and Acadian and French speaking communities. Funding will also be directed towards professional training for early learning and care educators with the aim of improving the quality and richness of experiences for children."
Newfoundland & Labrador
Excerpt: "The New Child Care Act includes: Replacing the former Child Care Services Act effective today (July 31); Improving safety and security standards for the well-being of our children at their most vulnerable stages; Clarifying and strengthening licensing exemptions; Removing the cap on the number of spaces per child care centre; Enhancing qualification expectations by requiring entry-level certification to become trainee certification, requiring early childhood educators to upgrade to a post-secondary one-year Early Childhood Education Certificate within a five-year period; Enhancing qualifications for administrators of infant-only family homes to include the requirement of a Level I certification with an infant classification; Ensuring child care providers have a secure building policy and enhanced physical space requirements to increase quality of care; and Committing to a mandatory five-year legislative review with public consultation to allow the opportunity for feedback."
Nova Scotia
Excerpt: Excerpt: "Forty-three locations across the province have been selected to offer pre-primary programming to four-year-olds this fall. “For the first time, Nova Scotia families will have access to a free pre-primary program for four-year-olds,” said Zach Churchill, Minister, Education and Early Childhood Development. “This investment will support the futures of our youngest Nova Scotians and save their families thousands of dollars in child care costs.”
Excerpt: "CHANCES in partnership with the Margaret and Wallace McCain Foundation embarked on a research effort to profile the impact of expanding access to a range of high quality integrated services for children and their families, with a particular focus on those who were identified as being vulnerable. The initial focus was the expansion and integration of early education and family support services, while further efforts focused on enhancing access, quality and accountability."
Excerpt: "Early learning and child care needs across the country are vast and diverse. Investments in early learning and child care benefit all children, particularly those who are vulnerable. In support of this Framework, the Government of Canada commits that the annual allocation until 2027 and 2028 will be no less than the allocation of 2017 and 2018. In keeping with the guiding principles of this Framework, provinces and territories will use investments allocated by the Government of Canada to further build early learning and child care systems by addressing local, regional and system priorities that have an impact on families more in need, such as lower-income families; Indigenous families; lone-parent families; families in underserved communities; those working non-standard hours; and/or families with children with varying abilities. The Government of Canada will work with provinces and territories over time to build long-term capacity in the early learning and child care sector."
Excerpt: "$4.4 million increase in Child Care due to higher than anticipated child care and pre-accredited programs being accredited with the corresponding higher funding rates for staff."
Excerpt: "Ontario is investing up to $1.6 billion in new capital funding to support the creation of 45,000 new licensed child care spaces in schools, other public spaces and communities over the next five years."
Excerpt: "Federal Budgets 2016 and 2017 proposed to invest $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. Of this investment: $95 million will go towards closing data gaps, to better understand what child care looks like in Canada and track progress; $100 million will go towards early learning and child care innovation; A portion of this investment will be dedicated to improving access to culturally appropriate early learning and child care programs for all Indigenous children."