Excerpts:

In 2012, the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (CCAAC) continues to call for public policy development and public investment in a quality, inclusive, publicly funded, non-profit early childhood education and care (ECEC) system. This is the right thing to do for children, families and communities, and a powerful booster for the Canadian economy. Evidence shows that a system of early childhood education and care will yield substantial social and economic benefits.
Currently child care in Canada is in a state of crisis. It is a fragmented patchwork that demonstrates the failure of a market-based approach to the development of child care services.

Evidence of this crisis can be seen across the country in:
•unaffordable fees for parents;
•shortage of child care spaces;
•poor wages and working conditions for child care providers;
•growth in commercial child care chains.

This crisis stands in stark contrast to the global recognition of early childhood education and care as a right of every child, a right that is affirmed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Canada is a signatory.

Canadians expect our government to live up to its international treaty obligations. Furthermore, a majority of Canadians polled support a national child care program.