The Government of Canada has a new role in early learning and child care (ELCC)

Until 2021, the federal government did not take a significant role in child care. With heavy reliance on parent fees, limited public responsibility and considerable variation among the provinces and territories, affordable, accessible, high quality child care was out of reach for most families.

This has begun to change. Since 2021, the federal government has begun to play a leadership role by providing high-level policy and substantial funding aimed at reducing parent fees, expanding services and strengthening quality. The federal government has promised to build a universal system through the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care plan (CWELCC). CWELCC, working in partnership with provinces, territories and Indigenous governments. The new system will be rolled out in all parts of Canada over the next five years and beyond.

Provision of early learning and child care is mainly the responsibility of provinces and territories

Under CWELCC, the main responsibility for planning implementation and maintaining and improving child care provision remains with provinces/territories and Indigenous governance bodies representing First Nations, Métis and Inuit people.

Each province and territory has regulated child care under its own Act and regulations covering staffing, facilities, programming and monitoring. Each province and territory has its own funding arrangements, and each has several regulated ELCC options. These usually include:

• Full-day centres
• Part-day nursery schools or preschools
• Regulated family child care
• Before- and after-school child care for 4 - 12 year olds in kindergarten or elementary school for most of the day.
• Regulated child care is operated by not-for-profit, for-profit and a small number of public (municipalities, school authorities and Indigenous governance groups) entities. Regulated child care programmes almost always charge parent fees.

Kindergarten which — like regulated child care provides child care and early childhood education — is also available in all provinces/territories for all five-year-olds, mostly for full-school days. A growing number now offer four-year-old kindergarten too.

Kindergarten is usually part of the public education system, usually free-of-charge and—unlike child care—is considered an entitlement. Kindergarten—whether part-day or full-school day—usually does not meet working parents’ work schedules, so the hours may be supplemented by before- and after-school child care. 

Unregulated child care

All provinces/territories allow unregulated child care—usually in the provider’s own home—for a specified number of children. In unregulated care, responsibility for monitoring all aspects—including quality, health and safety—rests entirely with parents. There is no public oversight (except when a complaint is made against a care provider).

Parents have the main responsibility

Access to child care is not considered a right for families or children, so finding and arranging child care is still mainly the parents’ responsibility. Parents are also responsible for paying fees. 

All provinces/territories have set targets for child care expansion over the next few years but regulated child care is still limited and unevenly distributed. In some communities and for some groups (rural communities, or for infants, for example), it will be hard for parents to find a high quality licensed child care space, so parents’ planning should take place well in advance. 

Assessing child care quality

Parents have the ultimate responsibility for figuring out just how good any child care centre or regulated home is even when it is regulated.

For regulated (or licensed child care), all provinces and territories have rules (regulations) about how they may operate. These include number of staff and their early childhood education qualifications, health and safety, indoor and outdoor space, provision of meals, programming, and so on. In centres or regulated family child care, provincial/territorial governments provide important public oversight by monitoring, licensing and inspecting to assess if the regulations are met.

Provinces and territories may provide the compliance records for regulated child care centres or family child care on line, or make them available to parents upon request.  

When child care is unregulated, parents are entirely on their own whether care is provided by a “nanny” in the child’s own home or in a provider’s home or other location.

Important to note...