“It is disingenuous to say the Liberal plan offers broader benefits when we know it will only reach less than a third of all families,” Andrea Mrozek told the C2C Journal. “They are only subsidizing one part of the entire ecosystem of care.”   If there’s another lesson to be learned from Quebec, it’s that government-funded childcare tends to cost a lot more than originally promised, which creates knock-on effects elsewhere. Mrozek’s research for Cardus suggests that despite its eye-popping $30 billion price tag over the next five years, the current Liberal proposal will be insufficient to meet all its stated objectives and that an additional $4 billion to $23 billion per year will be required to fulfill all its promises. If so, that money will have to come from somewhere.

The Liberals entered the election with the promise of $10-a-day licensed childcare spaces while the Conservatives are advocating a tax credit that would give parents more choice in meeting their children's care needs. But there are even more factors to consider, write Andrea Mrozek, Peter Jon Mitchell and Brian Dijkema of the think-tank Cardus.    

Brian Dijkema, vice president of external affairs at Cardus, shares his thoughts on the Conservatives' Canada-wide child-care plan. A glance at the available details of the CPC plan suggest that it is expansive, equitable, comprehensive, remarkably progressive, and takes significant steps to modernize child-care and family policy in Canada. How? While there are some who believe that “tax credits do nothing to create desperately needed spaces” or that the plan will not have an impact on women’s participation in the labour market, evidence suggests otherwise.

"The excellent report from Cardus objectively compels governments across the country to think more carefully before implementing [Community Benefits Agreements], by making sure they’re fair, open and inclusive," writes Paul de Jong, President of the Progressive Contractors Association of Canada, in the Times Colonist. "Unfortunately, it’s a little late for that in British Columbia, where the best move now is a hard stop." Paul's hard-hitting opinion piece in Victoria's newspaper of record is well worth a read.

The party that forms the federal government in Canada will commit substantial federal dollars to child care. The question is whether money will go to spaces or to parents. Peter Jon Mitchell, Cardus Family Program Director, discusses the options with radio host Rob Breakenridge.

Host Rob Snow speaks with Peter Jon Mitchell, family program director at Cardus, about the childcare platform proposals on offer from our federal parties. Where do they shine? Where do they fall short?

"A report from think tank Cardus released last month says the concept of CBAs are 'promising' for Canada, but stresses the need for governments, and B.C. in particular, to reassess their implementation methods," writes Saul Chernos in On-Site Magazine. CBAs aren't necessarily as innocent and innocuous as they sound.

Canada’s declining fertility has significant implications on the country’s economic and social stability, says a family studies researcher, adding that boosting awareness of the importance and benefits of marriage could help to reverse the trend. “Fertility rates have an impact on labour supply and on the state’s ability to meet entitlement obligations such as health care and public pensions,” says Peter Jon Mitchell in his research paper for think tank Cardus, titled “Missing Marriage and the Baby Carriage.”

A new report by Cardus shows since the passage of Bill 66 two years ago, the Region of Waterloo, Ont. has saved an average of 14 per cent in municipal construction project costs and has experienced nearly double the number of bidders on projects. The report, Bouncing Back Through Diversity: The Effects of Bill 66 on Construction Competition in the Region of Waterloo, also found the average number of bidders for the region’s construction projects grew by 50 per cent to reach 5.5 bidders per contract since the bill passed.