Occasional paper series

Description:

Description:

This report aims to provide a "snapshot" or inventory of the state of regulated child care for children with disabilities in Canada. It establishes a baseline for considering issues and progress on inclusion of children with disabilities in regulated child care programs. This is especially important as child care continues to receive relatively limited support in policy development and research even as early childhood education and early learning more broadly has begun to enjoy enhanced recognition and policy support.

This paper explores some of the conflicting priorities between childcare by for-profit entrepreneurs and non-profit or state systems. The paper considers the limitations of using the market as a workable model for the organisation and delivery of childcare. It presents a brief overview of the reach of economics as a basis for making decisions about childcare, and describes changes in ideas about the application of market principles to traditional welfare contexts.

Abstract:

The focus of this paper is on the role that public policy could play in positioning ECEC programs to contribute to realization of Canada's promise of respect for diversity. It describes the context of Canadian diversity and the policy context and situation of Canadian early childhood programs, emphasizing the potential role that robust, well‐focused public ECEC policy and programs could play in a very diverse country like Canada.

Download this publication

This paper's starting place is with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child's assumption that child care is a right and that governments have a responsibility in ensuring that this right is achieved. The paper reviews the Canadian political and social context for child care, putting this in a historical context; reviews the current child care situation; discusses the Articles of the Convention that pertain to
early learning and child care; and concludes that Canada has not yet taken the issue of children's right to early learning and child care seriously.

After many years of relative political inattention in Canada, the federal government has committed to developing a national early learning and child care program. In 2005, the first beginnings of the national program were laid down through a $5 billion/five year initiative consisting of bilateral agreements with provinces and territories.