A strong child care system is one of the necessary pillars to ensuring sustainable population growth and Canada's long-term economic prosperity. Improving this critical social system will support the well-being of children and families, create jobs, positively impact labour force participation and the economy, and help to attract and retain newcomers to Canada.
In the coming year as political debate heats up and policy, program and funding decisions get made, there is a risk that momentum will stall, just as with previous efforts to build a national child care system. We cannot allow that to happen. All children and parents in Canada deserve access to quality, accessible and affordable child care.
Century Initiative first Key Insight Report, "Canada's early learning and child care system: Building a foundation for sustainable population growth" identifies core issues in our child care system, summarizes past efforts to build a national system, and key learnings from other models. It also identifies critical next steps to ensure continued momentum.
The report builds on Century Initiative’s National Scorecard on Canada's Growth and Prosperity, released earlier this year, which found gaps in Canada’s current performance on early learning and child care.
To learn more, read the report.
