Fighting for Change: How Advocates Got Us Closer to $10 a Day Child Care in 2024
2024 was a pivotal year for child care in Canada. What once seemed like a distant dream—$10 a Day Child Care—is now within reach. But while significant progress has been made, we can’t stop now. The fight for publicly funded, high-quality licensed child care continues, and it’s up to all of us to ensure that every child across Canada has access to this vital service.
In November, Canadians across the country did just that; they rallied, wrote letters, and raised their voices online as part of the Ten Days of Action for $10 a Day Child Care. The power of collective action had an impact: eleven provinces and territories renewed their agreements to continue building a pan-Canadian child care system. We can make even more progress if we keep pushing together.
Here’s how organizations like Child Care Now, the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC (CCCABC), Pacific Immigrant Resources Society (PIRS), and the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care (OCBCC) have mobilized people across Canada—and how you can join the movement too.
Educate and Mobilize Communities to Advocate
A successful movement is built on strong community involvement. During the Ten Days of Action, Child Care Now engaged advocates across the country—from St. John’s to Victoria, Windsor to Iqaluit; urging them to contact their elected officials and push for strengthening the $10 a Day Child Care Plan. The campaign wasn’t just about raising awareness; it was about getting elected officials to listen.
They used petitions and educational resources to make it easy for people to take immediate action, ensuring everyone understood how the plan works and how to communicate with their representatives.
Take Action:
- Sign the petition and share it with others.
- Email your MP to tell them why $10 a Day Child Care matters to you.
- Educate yourself with FAQs on the $10 a Day Plan
Harness the Power of Digital and In-Person Engagement
To drive action, creative campaigns are essential. Oxfam Canada used digital storytelling, partnering with influencers to amplify their message and engage a wider audience. Through social media, they shared powerful stories and infographics to encourage people to act and continue the conversation.
In British Columbia, CCCABC took a hands-on approach, encouraging supporters to send thousands of multilingual postcards to the Premier.
In addition, CCCABC’s Grandparents for $10 a Day campaign cleverly brought grandparents’ voices to the forefront, showing that child care is essential not just to parents, but to multiple generations. Oxfam Canada and CCCABC also supported engagement initiatives led by communities of parents, educators, students, and cultural groups.
Take Action:
- Use the social media toolkit.
- Print Stickers and Signs
- Use this Design for Wearable Buttons
- Use #10aDayChildCare on social media
Share Personal Stories to Drive Change
There’s nothing more powerful than a personal story. During the Ten Days of Action, PIRS invited immigrant and refugee women to share their experiences, showing the urgent need for a publicly funded system that works for everyone.
One mother shared her frustration:
“Without access to child care, my daughter couldn’t learn English or socialize until kindergarten. This delay set her back and made it harder for her to adjust.”
Another mother spoke about the difficulties of navigating a system that was unprepared to meet her child’s disability needs:
“I felt hopeless when daycare centers turned us away. I just want my child to have the same opportunities as other kids.”
These stories underscore the importance of $10 a Day Child Care—not just for children’s development, but for the empowerment of immigrant and refugee women, and their families.
In Ontario, the OCBCC rallied at the Ontario Legislature, where a new network of families, Parents for Child Care, testified about how $10 a Day Child Care positively transformed their lives. Parents waiting for spaces and those living in child care deserts also raised their voices, stressing the urgent need to build more public and non-profit child care spaces. Later in the day, families joined the Association of Early Childhood Educators and CUPE Ontario on the lawn of Queen's Park for a rally for $10 a Day Child Care and Decent Pay. Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) highlighted the need for wage grids, benefits, and pension plans to ensure decent work and solve the child care staffing shortage in Ontario.
Take Action:
- Share your story about why affordable child care matters to you.
- Join a rally or town hall to show your support for the cause.
Big Wins for Families in Canada
2024 was a year of remarkable progress, and many significant victories were achieved in the fight for affordable child care:
- Lower Fees: Six provinces—Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut—capped child care fees to $10 per day. Yukon and Quebec reached $10 per day before the Canada-wide agreement.
- Better Pay for Educators: Seven provinces and territories introduced wage grids for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs), which means improved pay and working conditions for people who care for our children.
- New Laws: Bill C-35, an Act respecting Early Learning and Child Care, passed in March 2024, laying the groundwork for a sustainable, publicly funded child care system.
- Economic Growth: In 2024, the expansion of the ELCC sector and its impacts on other industries helped create jobs and contributed approximately $32 billion to Canada’s economy compared to 2019.
Despite these wins, challenges persist. Many rural and remote areas still face shortages of child care spaces, and it is hard to retain qualified educators. Almost half of all children in Canada live in child care deserts, where there are more children than licensed spaces available.
Will You Help Keep the Movement Going?
Canada must continue to expand and strengthen the $10 a Day Child Care plan to ensure every child has access to publicly funded, licensed early learning and care.
This November 2025, the Ten Days of Action for Early Learning and Child Care will unite Canadians once again in our push for lasting change. But we can’t do it without your help.
This is where YOU come in.
Join the movement and support the calls to action!
Together, we can make $10 a Day Child Care a reality for all. Will you be a part of it?
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