Introduction

The initial idea for a City of Vancouver (CoV) centre-based child care wages and working conditions survey came about during a comprehensive policy review being conducted by Jane Beach on the City’s role in child care. Lack of data on staff wages and benefits made it difficult to effectively examine the impact of City grants on various child care programs. As a result, social planners at CoV, approached the Executive Director of Westcoast Child Care Resource Centre (WCCCRC) about the possibility of Westcoast undertaking such a survey. The project was approved by City Council at the end of 2017, and funds made available shortly thereafter. Dr. Barry Forer, a child care researcher, was contracted in February 2018 to conduct and analyze the survey, write this report, and make two presentations on the results. Jane Beach provided expert advice throughout the project, from the design of the survey, to data cleaning, analyses and reviewing drafts of the report.