Introduction
Federal and provincial governments have embarked on a major initiative to build systems of early learning and child care across Canada that meet high standards for quality, affordability, accessibility, inclusion, and flexibility. The success of this initiative will depend partly on whether changes to early learning and child care meet the needs and expectations of parents.
To learn about parents’ views, the Alberta Parent Survey on Early Learning and Child Care was conducted in 2022 with over 1400 parents in Alberta who had children younger than six years of age. Parents responded to a wide range of questions about early learning and child care. The present report, one in a series based on this survey, is focused on quality.
Parents in Alberta identified quality as important for making choices about early learning and child care for their children. Quality was cited more often by parents from families with higher incomes than those with lower incomes, and more frequently by parents in more densely populated areas than in rural areas. In all cases, however, a substantial percentage of parents thought of quality as important. Issues about low quality were cited by many parents as a source of difficulty in finding early learning and child care. Parents also identified low quality as a concern about early learning and child care in their communities.
The report concludes with recommendations about clearly articulating a vision of what high quality should look like in early learning and child care, developing a plan for implementing that vision, and a making a commitment to not compromise high quality while increasing affordability and accessibility.