The Atkinson Centre blog highlights the struggles of Quebec's child care workers, who have launched a series of indefinite strikes demanding better pay and working conditions. These strikes have been ongoing, with a previous 2021 work stoppage securing significant wage increases. The blog compares Quebec’s strong union presence with other provinces and calls for more advocacy across Canada.
This report examines Canada’s early childhood education workforce amid the expansion of affordable child care. With over 300,000 early childhood professionals, the workforce is crucial for supporting economic growth, women’s workforce participation, and early childhood development. It addresses challenges, shares best practices, and offers recommendations to strengthen the workforce for accessible, high-quality care.
This Atkinson Centre blog highlights strategies to strengthen Canada’s ECE workforce from the 20th Annual Summer Institute on Early Childhood Development. It examines staffing shortages, low wages, and gender pay gaps, emphasizing political will, government support, and funding. Insights from the 2023 ECE Report underscore the need for equitable policies and sustainable investments.
This Atkinson Centre blog explores the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement’s goal to expand affordable child care. It highlights workforce challenges, including job vacancies and low wages for educators. The blog calls for improved compensation and working conditions, drawing lessons from Quebec’s sector bargaining to help attract and retain qualified early childhood educators nationwide.
This Atkinson Centre blog discusses key issues in early childhood education, including workforce development, funding, and the rise of for-profit child care. It advocates for stronger public, non-profit systems focused on quality care and highlights government initiatives like increased educator training to support a child care system that helps children, families, and educators.
This Atkinson Centre blog highlights the workforce challenges facing Northern Ontario's early childhood education sector. Despite the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care agreement aiming to improve access and affordability, issues still persist. The blog emphasizes the need for tailored situations, including fair wages, better funding models, and policies that address Northern Ontario to ensure access to quality child care.
This Atkinson Centre weekly blog explores the Knowing Our Numbers study, revealing critical challenges in Ontario's early childhood education workforce. The study reveals a workforce under stress due to severe staffing shortages, burnout, and low wages, with minimal wage increases despite federal funding. Knowing Our Numbers provides key insights which are crucial to shaping policies to better support the sector.
This Atkinson Centre submission outlines the goals of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care strategy. It outlines the key elements of what a high-quality, affordable, and inclusive Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) system should look like. It discusses challenges in providing accessible ELCC and offers recommendations for federal support of the ELCC workforce.
This Atkinson Centre blog discusses Canada’s struggle to balance affordable child care with maintaining quality. As the country moves toward $10/day child care, a study reveals concerns among educators about working conditions, with some unwilling to recommend their own centres. The blog also critiques how funding prioritizes lowering parent fees over supporting a qualified workforce.
Savard-Shaw et al. (2024) highlight a critical issue in the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program: increased demand has exposed labour and infrastructure shortages. It highlight’s Canada’s lack of trained early childhood educators and insufficient child care spaces. The article calls for more financial support for families, urging stronger investments to address these challenges in the coming years.
