Early Childhood Education and Care: Next Steps Report of The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology The Honourable Art Eggleton P.C., Chair The Honourable Wilbert Joseph Keon O.C., Deputy Chair April 2009 Ce document est offert en français Available on the Parliamentary Internet: http://senate-senat.ca/social.asp 40th Parliament – 2nd Session Pursuant to Rule 131(2) the Senate requests a complete and detailed response from the Government to this report, with the Minister of Human Resources and Social Development being identified as the Minister responsible for responding to the report. Rule 131(2) states that once the Senate has adopted a report, the Senate may request the Government to provide a response. Rule 131(3) asks for this response within 150 calendar days after adoption of a report. The Committee would like to thank the following staff for their hard work in the preparation of this report: From the Library of Parliament: Havi Echenberg Diane Leduc Karin Phillips Consultant: Kerry McCuaig From the Committees Directorate: Keli Hogan, Clerk of the Committee Monique Régimbald, Administrative Assistant Barbara Reynolds, Clerk of the Committee, 2nd Session, 39th Parliament Tracy Amendola, Administrative Assistant, 2nd Session, 39th Parliament TABLE OF CONTENTS ORDER OF REFERENCE ................................................................ 1 MEMBERSHIP .............................................................................. 2 FOREWORD ................................................................................ 3 GLOSSARY ................................................................................. 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................. 6 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................... 9 2. THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT ................................................ 12 2.1 OECD‘s Canada study and report ......................................... 12 2.1.1 METHOD ........................................................................ 12 2.1.2. FINDINGS ..................................................................... 13 IDENTIFIED STRENGTHS ........................................................... 13 CONCERNS .......................................................................... 14 2.1.3. CANADA-SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE OECD .............. 14 2.2. OECD‘s comparative study ................................................. 16 2.2.1. GENERAL FINDINGS .......................................................... 16 2.2.2. KEY FINDINGS ................................................................ 16 ACCESS ISSUES ..................................................................... 16 FUNDING ISSUES ................................................................... 17 QUALITY ISSUES .................................................................... 17 2.2.3. GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE OECD ......................... 18 2.2.4. CANADA IN COMPARISON .................................................... 18 2.2.5. OECD MODELS ................................................................ 19 2.3. Developments in other countries ......................................... 22 2.3.1. COUNTRIES REVIEWED ....................................................... 22 2.3.2. INTEGRATION OF ECEC SERVICES ......................................... 24 2.3.4. ACCESS ........................................................................ 26 2.3.5. QUALITY, MONITORING AND EVALUATION ................................. 29 3. APPROACHES TO ECEC ............................................................ 30 3.1. Early childhood development and pedagogy ......................... 30 3.2. Population health .............................................................. 33 3.3. Supporting families ........................................................... 35 3.3.1. PARENTAL CHOICE ............................................................ 35 3.3.2. PARENTING SKILLS ........................................................... 37 3.4. Integration ....................................................................... 39 3.5. Accessibility...................................................................... 44 4. FEDERAL INVOLVEMENT .......................................................... 47 4.1. Policy, programs and funding mechanisms ........................... 47 4.1.1. TAX AND TRANSFERS TO INDIVIDUALS ..................................... 47 CHILD CARE EXPENSES DEDUCTION 1972 ..................................... 47 NATIONAL CHILD BENEFIT 1998 ................................................. 48 UNIVERSAL CHILD CARE BENEFIT 2006 ........................................ 50 CHILD TAX CREDIT 2007 ......................................................... 50 4.1.2. DIRECT PROGRAM FUNDING ................................................. 50 FIRST NATIONS AND ABORIGINAL PEOPLES ..................................... 50 MILITARY FAMILIES ................................................................. 59 FEDERAL PRISONERS ............................................................... 61 IMMIGRANTS AND REFUGEES ...................................................... 61 4.1.3. TRANSFERS TO PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES ............................ 62 COMMUNITY ACTION PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN (CAPC) /CANADA PRENATAL NUTRITION PROGRAM (CPNP) 1993 ........................................... 62 CANADA SOCIAL TRANSFER 1995 ............................................... 64 NATIONAL CHILDREN‘S AGENDA 1997 .......................................... 65 NATIONAL CHILD BENEFIT 1998 ................................................. 67 SOCIAL UNION FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT (SUFA) 1999 ..................... 68 EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (2000) ....................... 68 MULTILATERAL FRAMEWORK ON EARLY LEARNING AND CHILD CARE (2003) ....................................................................................... 69 MOVING CANADA FORWARD: FOUNDATIONS – AN EARLY LEARNING AND CHILD CARE PROGRAM (2004) .................................................. 71 AGREEMENTS-IN-PRINCIPLE ON EARLY LEARNING AND CHILD CARE 2005, AND CANADA-QUÉBEC AGREEMENT ON EARLY LEARNING AND CHILD CARE 71 CHILD CARE SPACES INITIATIVE (2006) ....................................... 71 4.2. Federal leadership ............................................................. 73 5. PROVINCIAL/TERRITORIAL AND LOCAL POLICIES AND PROGRAMS ................................................................................................ 78 5.1. Provincial/territorial trends ................................................. 78 5.1.1. FRAMEWORKS/STRATEGIES ................................................. 78 5.1.2. INTEGRATION ................................................................. 80 5.1.3. INCREASING FUNDING LEVEL, INCREASED SPACES, AND MIXED DELIVERY .......................................................................................... 80 5.1.4. INCLUSION OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS .......................... 83 5.1.5. CURRICULUM .................................................................. 84 5.2. Local responses ................................................................ 85 5.3. Stronger partnerships ........................................................ 87 6. PROGRAM DESIGN .................................................................. 89 6.1. Regulated/unregulated ...................................................... 89 6.2. For-profit/not-for-profit ...................................................... 91 6.3. Universal/targeted ............................................................ 97 7. CHILD CARE STAFFING ........................................................... 99 7.1. Staffing requirements ...................................................... 100 7.2. Recruitment and retention ................................................ 102 8. RESEARCH/DATA .................................................................. 106 8.1. Current sources .............................................................. 106 8.1.1. NATIONAL LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON CHILDREN AND YOUTH ......... 106 8.1.2. ABORIGINAL CHILDREN‘S SURVEY ....................................... 107 8.1.3. L‘ETUDE LONGITUDINALE DU DÉVELOPPEMENT DES ENFANTS DU QUÉBEC (ELDEQ) ............................................................................ 107 8.1.4. UNDERSTANDING THE EARLY YEARS ..................................... 108 8.1.5. ONTARIO CHILD HEALTH STUDY ......................................... 108 8.1.6. BETTER BEGINNINGS, BETTER FUTURES ................................ 109 8.1.7. THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT INSTRUMENT (EDI) ........................ 110 8.1.8. THE COMPOSITE LEARNING INDEX (CLI) ............................... 111 8.2. Federal role .................................................................... 112 9. CONCLUSION ....................................................................... 114 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................ 116 APPENDIX 1 – WITNESS LIST .................................................... 117 APPENDIX 2 ............................................................................. 119 INNOVATIVE PRACTICES IN ECEC .............................................. 119 APPENDIX 3 ............................................................................. 124 OVERVIEW OF EARLY LEARNING POLICIES AND PROGRAMS IN PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES .................................................