Moving from private to public processes to create child care in Canada

Moving from private to public processes to create child care in Canada examines how child care programs are created in Canada, contrasting the private approach upon which Canada primarily relies on with the more publicly managed approach to service development used in better developed child care systems. It argues that moving to a more publicly managed, planned and intentional model of service development is one important piece of an effective strategy needed to address Canada’s child care dilemma.  It observes that the insufficient, uneven supply of early learning and child care services will remain a barrier to meeting families’ need for child care equitably, fairly and effectively, impeding Canada’s ability for a vigorous recovery from the pandemic. In addition to exploring these issues, the paper describes six "public management tools" to provide examples of how these can contribute a more public approach to expanding the supply of child care across Canada.  This project was funded by the Innovations Initiative, Employment and Social Development Canada.