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Posted on The Conversation.

Excerpt: "The coronavirus has uncovered myriad inequities within systems of education, from childrens’ and families’ access to resources, to the supportive and safe environments that are necessary for optimal learning. Inequities are exponentially greater in times of crisis. In Canada, more than 2.3 million primary-age children remain at home. Challenges of inequity were immediately apparent as public school authorities began responding."

The mandated 5-year review of the Child Care and Early Years Act (CCEYA) is open. The province has allowed a very short turnaround time for the public to respond.

Excerpt: "A system that addresses the needs of parents and children requires building more physical infrastructure, and more affordable access, but critically it requires more educators. This involves not just better wages and benefits, but an infrastructure that sustains quality work including access to excellence in pre- and in-service training; pedagogical leadership, and the availability of special needs specialists and family support workers to help address child/family needs, as in most schools."

Posted on The Globe and Mail.

Excerpt: "The key is quality, not just quantity. And quality depends on well-trained and resourced educators. Poor pay and working conditions drive qualified educators out of the field. Quality concerns are found everywhere, including in Quebec, the leader in affordable child care."

Excerpt: "Two-years of kindergarten delivered within the school system leverages existing investments within public education and ameliorates several issues facing families, communities and government: High rates of illiteracy (including reading, writing and numeracy) that are a drag on the economic futures; Growing special education demands fueled by an increase in academic and language gaps and behavior challenges that are easier to address when interventions begin early; Increasing child care costs to families that reduce parental, particularly the labor force participation of mothers."

Excerpt: "Fair compensation and supported working conditions are a proven formula for incenting ECE graduates to return to the sector. For example, almost half of the 53,000 registered educators in Ontario’s College of ECEs do not work in licensed child care, largely because of low wages and poor working conditions. Nova Scotia has demonstrated it is possible to bring back and retain these skilled workers. When the province rolled out its universal pre-primary school program, 70% of the educator positions were filled by certified ECEs who returned to the profession. Many moved back to N.S. to work in the program. It is a striking example of how recruitment prospects really change when workers are paid commensurate to their training and skills."

Posted on The Conversation.

Excerpt: "Strong, focused and equitable policies to support children are needed now more than ever. Now that we have seen decades of consistent evidence of inequity and poverty, Canadian policy makers should not need to see another report. They need to take action. Canada’s children deserve better. They need federal efforts to rectify the obvious opportunity gaps. Canada’s track record leaves out too many: it needs to do better. Not tomorrow, today."

Excerpt: "This proposal outlines an immediate $500 M Federal granting program to municipalities to demonstrate best practices in ELCC delivery through investments in access, workforce development and service development, planning and oversight. Designed to rapidly expand child care access, these investments will also identify the resources and measures required to create a pan Canadian system of public, sustainable, high quality early learning and childcare."

Excerpt: "The economic impact of investment in the child care sector includes three major facets: It is a job creator for those directly employed in the sector and for those who participate in the sector’s supply chain.; It creates opportunities for parents to increase their labour force participation. (As a job creator and a job facilitator it impacts tax revenue and GDP growth).; It positively impacts children by enhancing learning and health, which influences their future earnings and wellbeing, and contributions to the broader community."

Excerpt: "The federal government is using its spending powers to incent provinces and territories to participate. Budget 2021 commits to new investments totaling $30 billion over the next five years, including $1.4 billion for Indigenous families. After that an annual commitment to $9.2 billion, with $385 million ongoing for Indigenous programs, raises the federal contribution to early learning and child care to the equivalent of what provinces and territories now spend.

Budget 2021 signals a bias for non-profit/public delivery and clearly directs funding to program operations to support quality and access and to reduce fees, rather than payments to parents. It moves away from the current market approach to a view of early learning and child care as a public good."

From the Early Childhood Education Report 2020, access the Quebec Provincial Profile.

Excerpt: "Budget 2021 is the culmination of decades of tireless, dedicated efforts of many to recognize the benefits of early learning for every Canadian child and the value of child care in supporting families. Investment of $30 billion over five years, starting in 2021-22, and $9.2 billion going forward, will bring the federal government’s annual contribution for early learning and child care equal to that of the provinces and territories. Included in the amount, is $2.5-billion to expand and improve early learning and care for Indigenous families."