Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System
Karen Hogan, Fellow Chartered Professional AccountantFCPA
Auditor General of Canada
Good morning Mr. Chair and thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today to discuss our report on the Canada‑Wide Early Learning and Child Care System which was tabled on October 21st. I’d like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. Joining me today are Gabriel Lombardi, the principal who was responsible for the audit, and Ewa Jarzyna, the director who led the audit team.
In this audit, we looked at whether Employment and Social Development Canada fulfilled its responsibilities to support early learning and child care across Canada. The federal government committed $35 billion to provinces, territories and Indigenous partners over 5 years to support the creation of high‑quality, affordable, inclusive, accessible, and flexible early learning and child care spaces.
In the first 3 years of the funding agreements, the provincial and territorial governments spent $12 billion of the $15 billion in federal funding for early learning and child care initiatives. The audit found that as of March 2024, parents’ out‑of‑pocket fees for federally‑funded spaces had been reduced to an average of $16.50 a day. The target is to reach an average of $10 per day by March 2026.
Federal funding also supported the creation of approximately 112,000 new child care spaces as of March 2024. However, with time running out, there is a risk that the goal of creating 250,000 new spaces by 2026 will not be met.
The audit found that the department lacked information to track whether federal funding had met the objectives of supporting diverse and vulnerable children and families and supporting Indigenous early learning and child care initiatives. For example, the department could not report about progress achieved on initiatives for Indigenous early learning and child care, such as facility renovations or repairs.
While child care costs to parents have been reduced, Employment and Social Development Canada’s monitoring is not sufficient to know whether families’ needs are being met. The department needs to collect consistent and comparable data across the country to track the program’s overall performance, inform future decisions and support families across the country. Monitoring is also essential to assess the financial sustainability of the Canada‑wide system going forward.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.