Introduction

Learning does not start on the first day of school. Research shows that the early years are the most important years in a child’s development. It is a critical stage that has a significant impact on their future long-term health, growth and well-being.

For far too long, early learning and child care have been misunderstood, ignored and under-funded in Nova Scotia. There has never been, until now, an in-depth examination of our regulated child care sector in this province. 

In January 2015, the Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development began an extensive review to provide a clearer picture of the strengths and the areas of concern within the sector. The review focussed on five key areas:

• Accessibility of child care for families;
• Affordability of child care programs;
• Quality of the programming;
• Support and development of the workforce;
• Structure and governance of the system.