Finding child care shouldn’t be like a tricky game of search and find—it’s time to make things much, much better.

Canadian families must have accessible, high-quality, inclusive, and affordable child care.

Good news. Child care is now much more affordable.

The Canadian federal government has made big strides in reducing child care costs for families. Thanks to the 2021 Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement (CWELCC), all provinces and territories have slashed parent fees, some down to $10 a day. In a cost-of-living crisis, this has been a huge relief for those who are able to access licensed child care.

Increased demand shows families need this program

The COVID-19 pandemic made it clear that Canada needed a better system for child care. Canadian families no longer accept a model for child care where fees, quality, and availability are determined by the market rather than by governments accountable to citizens.
Publicly-funded child care is already making a significant impact on families. As of 2023, more families are using licensed child care services, and there's an increase in sign-ups for waiting lists, indicating a growing demand for licensed child care.

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children aged 0 to 5 now access center-based child care facilities, a significant jump from 31% in 2019.

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of parents with children aged 0 to 5 years report their kids are on waiting lists, up from 19% in 2019.

Yet there’s more to be done to achieve equitable access

Many families are still struggling to find child care. As the demand for child care increases, there simply aren’t enough high-quality, low-fee, licensed not-for-profit and public child care spaces.

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children not yet in kindergarten live in a child care desert. This means that at least three kids compete for one licensed child care spot in a single postal code.

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of Indigenous parents report not using child care due to a shortage of spaces or long waiting lists, compared to 7.7% of all other parents.

The child care shortage affects many families, and it is even more challenging for specific groups in society such as those living in rural and remote areas, newcomers to Canada, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, and low- and modest-income families.
There are several reasons for this, including limited access to nearby child care facilities or easily accessible by public transportation, lack of knowledge or resources to navigate the system, lack of child care outside of standard hours, among others.

the solution: Expand the supply of high-quality not-for-profit and public child care

We urge the government to allocate sufficient funding and develop a strategic plan to expand not-for-profit and public early learning and child care. Provinces and territories, hand-in-hand with communities and local governments, should spearhead child care expansion by setting clear growth targets and criteria that prioritize access for underserved communities.

High-quality child care isn’t possible without the ability to attract and retain qualified early childhood educators and staff. We stress the importance of adequate funding to implement competitive wage grids, enhance benefits, and improve working conditions for early childhood educators and staff to ensure the sustainability of the child care system.