By Canadian Press

Federal effort to boost child care in three provinces off to ‘slow start’: report

Oct 12, 2023 | 4:13 PM

An analysis by a public-policy group has found that federal funding meant to bring $10-a-day child care across Canada has stumbled with a “slow start” and “underwhelming results” in three provinces where data is available.

The report by Cardus looking at the roll out of the programs in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick found that issues ranging from unspent funding to skilled labour shortages led to missed child care targets.

The federal government signed separate, five-year funding agreements with provinces and territories in 2021, committing up to $30 billion in five years toward the establishment of $10-a-day child care.

The Cardus report found that B.C. spent just 11 per cent of its federal funding from the initiative in its first year, while only nine per cent of the funding set aside for Indigenous child care was allocated. 

The report says similar issues arose in Saskatchewan, where a shortage of early-childhood educators limited the province to the creation of just 37 per cent of its promised spaces in the first year. 

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New Brunswick spent less than $6 million of its $55 million allocation, the report says, and its agreement with the federal government favours non-profit daycare operators despite the province relying heavily on for-profit groups to create new spaces. 

The report says while B.C. did generate about 1,200 spaces in the first year, it will need to create 7,000 child-care spaces per year for the next four to reach the original five-year goal of 30,000 new spaces.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2023.

The Canadian Press