Excerpts
It is critical that Indigenous children and families have access to an affordable, high quality, culturally competent child care system that is Indigenous-led.
Most recently, Statistics Canada published that 88% of Indigenous people in Ontario reside in an urban or rural settings. Yet, as the child care system sees rapid expansion, urban Indigenous families are still being deprived of Indigenous-led child care.
In Ontario alone, approximately 10,000 urban Indigenous child care spaces are required to meet the needs of urban Indigenous families. Currently, there is no clear plan to address the disparity. Through the Canada – Ontario Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) Agreement, an additional 86,000 spaces in Ontario have been promised. However, there is no commitment for additional spaces for urban Indigenous families.
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Collaboration with service system managers
In Ontario, CMSMs and DSSABs are tasked with the role of child care administration. A change to this approach requires system transformation and partnerships from all levels of government. The OFIFC continues to seek out the conditions to create an urban Indigenous ELCC infrastructure, in which the Friendship Centre IELCC Governance Model can be realized.
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The OFIFC uses the ongoing learnings and partnerships to expand the understanding of ELCC administration and the current gaps experienced by urban Indigenous families. Both are important in supporting the creation of the Friendship Centre IELCC Governance Model to best serve and meet the needs of Friendship Centres.
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The OFIFC continues to collaborate and partner with OMSSA and its members. This is an opportunity to build lasting reconciliation, that affirms the role of Friendship Centre communities to remember, reclaim, revitalize, and transmit Indigenous early learning and child care knowledge and systems.