Responses to Common Questions About $10-A-Day Child Care
QUESTION | ANSWER |
---|---|
Do most Canadian
families benefit
from $10-a-day child
care? | No. While the federal program costs $30 billion over 5 years, most Canadian
families receive no benefit from the billions spent – only 29% of children aged 0-12
had access to a licensed space in 2021.1 Further, not all licensed child care for
children under age six receives federal funding through this program. Add to this
that Statistics Canada survey data show that parents use diverse forms of care to
meet their needs.2 Cardus estimates that if the federal spending on this program
went directly to families instead of directly to day care centres, parents would
receive $3,869 per child, per year.3
|
Does the federal
program help low
income families the
most? | No. Research shows that wealthy families are more likely to use the form of care
the federal plan funds.4 One study states, “Parents with lower socioeconomic
status (e.g. with lower income and lower education levels) are less likely to enroll
their children in regulated child care compared to parents with higher
socioeconomic status.”5 |
Are Canadians
highly supportive of
this child care plan? | Polling suggests the public have truly diverse views, including support for a range
of policies. There are higher levels of support for a refundable tax credit and
expansion of the child disability benefit than for a $10-a-day system.6
|
Would more money
fix the problems
with $10-a-day care? | No. The problems with the program are structural and there are no “quick fixes.”
In fact, many provinces have struggled to effectively spend federal funds. Eight
provinces and territories amended their agreements to increase the amount of
unspent funding that they can carry over from one year to the next. In four cases,
provinces amended their agreements twice to increase carryover allowances.7 The
$10-a-day program has inflated demand by rapidly lowering parent fees even as
the sector struggles with labour shortages and rising costs. Simply increasing the
size of transfers will not resolve complex issues like the labour shortage and
inflation. |
Isn’t $10-a-day an
obvious solution to
high child care
costs?
| For decades, the federal and provincial/territorial governments have been
offsetting the true cost of license child care, requiring all families to pay through
their taxes for the child care of a few. The current federal program amplifies this
inequality by significantly reducing fees for child care that is available to only a
minority of parents. |
How does
prioritizing non-profit and public
child care hurt
Canadian parents?
| Because the agreements deny or limit the portion of funds that may go to space
creation in independent or for-profit licensed child care centres, it puts those
centres at a disadvantage. This is a significant problem in provinces where the
majority of licensed care is operated by independent providers.8 The decision to
discriminate against these operators is counterproductive in achieving space
creation goals. |
What is the role of
the federal
government in child
care? | The federal government is a funder. It offsets the cost of child care for parents
(including non-licensed care) through tax deductions and the Canada Child
Benefit, and transfers funds to provinces, territories and Indigenous communities
for licensed child care. The federal government does not create spaces, license,
regulate or administrate child care. The federal government cannot implement
$10-a-day without securing agreements with the provinces and territories, who
legislate, fund, license, and regulate child care.
|
Is the federal
government
addressing daycare
deserts? | Daycare deserts is an advocacy tool using ratios of licensed spaces to the number
of children in a postal code. Fewer than one space per three children is deemed a
desert. The concept does not measure demand nor account for other forms of
care parents use, but nonetheless has become imbedded in government literature.
Some provinces such as Manitoba allocate funds toward space creation in areas
the province deems underserved. The problem remains that across the country,
the program is not meeting space creation targets. In Nova Scotia, for example,
the province saw a decrease in the number of child care centres during the first
two years of the program.9 |
Doesn’t the
program just need
more time to be
successful? | The $10-a-day program is plagued by inequitable access for families, workforce
shortages, quality care issues and funding shortfalls. These same problems remain
in the Quebec program after more than two decades since its inception.10 The
federal plan risks embedding an increasingly expensive, inaccessible, and
mediocre quality program within the provinces and territories. |
[1] M. Friendly, “Summary and Analysis of Key Findings: Early Childhood Education and Care in Canada 2021 and beyond,” Childcare Resource and Research Unit, 2023, https://childcarecanada.org/sites/default/files/Summary-Analysis-Key-Findings-ECEC21_0.pdf.
[2] “Table 42-10-0031-01 Type of Child Care Arrangement, Children Aged 0 to 5 Years,” Statistics Canada, December 5, 2023, https://doi.org/10.25318/4210003101-eng.
[3] A. Mrozek, P. J. Mitchell, and B. Dijkema, “Look Before You Leap: The Real Costs and Complexities of National Daycare,” Cardus, May 2021, https://www.cardus.ca/research/family/reports/look-before-you-leap/.
[4] Ben Miljure, “New Study Shows Few Low-Income Families Benefiting from $10 Daycare in B.C.,” British Columbia, December 17, 2023, https://bc.ctvnews.ca/new-study-shows-few-low-income-families-benefiting-from-10-daycare-in-b-c-1.6691486.
[5] D. S. Lero et al., “Non-standard Work and Child Care in Canada: A Challenge for Parents, Policy Makers, and Child Care Provision,” Childcare Resource and Research Unit and University of Guelph, December 2019, 26, https://childcarecanada.org/sites/default/files/Non%20standard%20work%20and%20child%20care%20in%20Canada_Final_%5BPDF_pp_227%5D_0.pdf.
[6] A. Mrozek, “How do parents really feel about the government’s daycare options?” The Hub, September 2023, https://thehub.ca/2023-09-05/andrea-mrozek-how-do-parents-really-feel-about-the-governments-daycare-options/;“Birth Rate Crisis? Half of Those Who Want Children Have Waited Longer than They’d like, Due Largely to Cost,” Angus Reid Institute, October 10, 2024, https://angusreid.org/birth-rate-crisis-child-care/.
[7] Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Newfoundland amended their agreements to increase the carryover amount. British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan amended their agreements to increase carryover amounts twice. See Early Learning and Child Care Agreements, https://www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories.html
[8] For example, Alberta and Nova Scotia rely significantly on for-profit providers.
[9] P.J. Mitchell, “Child Care Funding Update: Nova Scotia—Years One and Two (2021–22 and 2022–23),” Child Care Funding Update (Hamilton, ON: Cardus, August 29, 2024), https://www.cardus.ca/research/family/research-brief/child-care-funding-update-nova-scotia-years-one-and-two-2021-22-and-2022-23/.
[10] A. Mrozek, “Andrea Mrozek: Quebec’s Child-Care System Isn’t What You’ve Been Told It Is,” The Line, February 10, 2022, https://www.readtheline.ca/p/andrea-mrozek-quebecs-child-care.