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Early Childhood Education and Care Policy: Canada, Country Note

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Early Childhood Education and Care Policy: Canada, Country Note Early Childhood Education and Care Policy CANADA Country Note OECD Directorate for Education The views expressed in the document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Canadian authorities, the OECD or its Member countries. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 5 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 15 The OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy ........................................ 15 The review procedure in Canada............................................................................................................... 16 Structure of the Canadian Country Note ................................................................................................... 17 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................... 17 CHAPTER 2 CONTEXTUAL ISSUES SHAPING ECEC POLICIES IN CANADA.............................. 19 Geography and population ........................................................................................................................ 19 Governance and economy ......................................................................................................................... 21 Demographic and social features impacting on ECEC ............................................................................. 21 CHAPTER 3 CURRENT ECEC POLICY AND PROVISION IN CANADA.......................................... 27 1. A brief overview of Canadian ECEC ............................................................................................. 27 2. Kindergarten................................................................................................................................... 28 3. Child care........................................................................................................................................ 30 4. Family Services .............................................................................................................................. 38 5. Aboriginal Children........................................................................................................................ 39 6. Research and Monitoring................................................................................................................ 40 7. Federal/Provincial/Territorial Initiatives ........................................................................................ 42 8. Initiatives in four Provinces............................................................................................................ 45 CHAPTER 4 ISSUES FOR ECEC IN CANADA...................................................................................... 55 Financing................................................................................................................................................... 56 The separation of child care from early education .................................................................................... 59 Access and equity...................................................................................................................................... 61 Quality issues ............................................................................................................................................ 64 CHAPTER 5 RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................................... 69 Upstream policy recommendations........................................................................................................... 69 Funding and financing recommendations ................................................................................................. 72 Recommendations with regard to access................................................................................................... 77 Recommendations to improve quality....................................................................................................... 79 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................. 84 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 85 APPENDIX I – THE OECD REVIEW TEAM ............................................................................................ 91 APPENDIX II – ITINERARY AND PROGRAM OF VISITS.................................................................... 92 APPENDIX III – TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE BACKGROUND REPORT OF CANADA................ 96 3 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Country Note for Canada is the outcome of an intensive review of early childhood policies and services in Canada by an OECD review team in September/October 2003. The review was initiated by an invitation to the OECD Directorate for Education from the Department of Social Development, Canada, and centred on the provinces of Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Country Note is structured as follows: Chapter 1: the Introduction outlines the goals and framework of the OECD early childhood education and care (ECEC) reviews. A premise of the OECD approach is that the development of young children depends greatly on equitable social structures, on energetic public management and financing of the sector; and on the informed practice of qualified professionals who provide - in a caring environment - structured environments and programmes appropriate for young children. Chapter 2: Contextual issues shaping ECEC policies in Canada, is descriptive in emphasis, and describes Canadian demographic developments, women’s participation in the labour market, social and economic issues, and other factors related to the organisation of early childhood services. Chapter 3: Current ECEC policy and provision in Canada, outlines the key features of the current system. It describes the broad structure of the services, regulatory procedures, funding, access and provision, staffing and training, research and monitoring. It examines how these indicators compare with one another across different forms of provision and among different groups. It also describes recent policy initiatives at both federal and provincial levels, with a special section devoted to the four provinces reviewed. Chapter 4: Issues for ECEC in Canada explores the coherence of current policies from the point of view of quality, access and equity. It considers in particular the situation of Aboriginal children, and challenging organisational and financing issues. Chapter 5: Conclusions and recommendations. This final chapter puts forward for consideration by the Canadian authorities a number of suggestions and recommendations. They are based on first-hand observation of services and on discussions with the ministries and the major stakeholders in the early childhood field in Canada. In summary, these conclusions are as follows: A Summary of Conclusions General remarks From the perspective of the OECD review team, significant strengths exist in Canada: − Remunerated parental leave for almost a year has been enacted. Although not yet extended to all nursing mothers and parents, the federal Employment Insurance Act of 2001 is a very important contribution to both equal opportunity for women and infant well-being and development (research underlines the importance of one-to-one attention for infants during the first year of life).1 − The advance made by Quebec, which has launched one of the most ambitious early education and care policies in North America. By itself, Quebec now accounts for about 40% of regulated child care places in Canada, and its experience will be extremely useful for Canada in developing a publicly managed, universal, early childhood system; − The effort made by several administrations after 1996, when the CAP (Canada Assistance Plan) ended, to maintain their early childhood services from their own revenue, despite a withdrawal of Federal funding and a climate of suspicion of public services. − The growing consultation and co-operation between the Federal and Provincial governments: The Federal government and many of the provinces have signed several multilateral agreements that have moved toward 1. Attachment theorists, such as Belsky (2001) advise a rather longer period – up to 2 years – for an infant to remain with the mother, but most researchers agree that children can benefit greatly from quality early childhood experiences during their second year. Sweden has adopted a remunerated parental leave of 480 days, of which 390 days are paid at 80% of the parent’s qualifying income, and 90 days at a universally applicable flat rate of 60 SEK per day; and this is linked to a universal entitlement to a place in an ECEC service from 12 months of age. Only when there has been some crisis will children below the age of 12 months be seen in ECEC services n Sweden. 5 a clearer focus on child development and learning. Federal funding has begun to have a significant impact since 2003/04, and is stimulating a renewal of ECEC services in several provinces. − The existence of a well-established kindergarten early education network for children
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