Evaluation of the Early Learning and Child Care Innovation Program, 2026

Relevance

The Innovation Program is one of the initiatives under the ELCC Framework that seeks to support the sector in responding to a range of challenges. They include affordability, accessibility, and workforce capacity. These challenges disproportionately affect low-income, newcomer and racialized families. The Innovation Program is designed to support a limited number of projects to test and help identify innovative ELCC approaches to disseminate with ELCC key stakeholders across the country. These projects aligned with the sector's persistent and evolving challenges. While projects generated insights, the program did not expect them to directly address the full breadth and complexity of these challenges.

Canada's ELCC ecosystem is complex and evolving. In addition to provinces and territories that play a predominant role, it includes a range of stakeholders such as research institutions, advocacy groups, professional associations, and ELCC providers. In the context of the Innovation Program, it remains unclear, based on the information available, the extent to which ESDC strategically leverages existing networks to support the identification, sharing and uptake of best practices in support of its national objectives for replication and scale.

Design and delivery

The 2020 CFP funded 20 projects that reflected a diversity of focuses and approaches, addressing key priorities such as inclusion, leadership development, and pandemic preparedness.

External delays and pandemic-related disruptions affected project timelines. These delays, combined with shifting operating conditions during the pandemic, constrained projects' ability to plan, engage stakeholders, and develop partnerships, key conditions for fostering inclusive and impactful innovation.

Results and performance

Funded projects produced tools, resources, and tested practices to support children and families, early childhood educator training, and help build sector capacity. Funded projects also demonstrated commitment to equity considerations, including by addressing cultural diversity and language accessibility, and by targeting vulnerable children and families with unique child care needs.

Based on available information there is an uneven capacity among funded organizations to systematically inform and report on the effectiveness, scalability, and adaptability of their innovative approaches. Nonetheless, the available evidence provides lessons learned and insights into the challenges organizations face when developing and implementing innovative practices in an ELCC context.

Some projects have begun sharing results locally and, in some cases, more broadly at the national level. The program had planned structured mechanisms for dissemination, but these plans had not been implemented at the time of the evaluation.

Document Review

As part of the document review, the evaluation team reviewed internal program documents, 20 project summary reports, and 12 final project reports. The evaluation team received 5 additional final reports, but after the evaluation's data collection period ended.

Literature Review

The literature review draws on over 35 sources, including documents from ESDC and other federal departments, provincial and territorial ELCC action plans and annual reports, reports from academic and non-profit organizations, and international publications. It examines challenges faced by the ELCC sector within the Canadian context and highlights innovative practices and approaches that aim to make ELCC services more responsive to the needs of these families.

Key Informant Interviews

Key informant interviews gathered information about the Innovation Program's relevance, its design and delivery, as well as strengths, challenges and lessons learned. The team conducted 24 semi-structured interviews with key informants in their official language of choice, including:

• internal (ESDC/Service Canada) key informants (5 interviews, with a total of 9 interviewees)
• external key informants from organizations funded as part of the 2020 CFP (16 interviews total, with a total of 26 interviewees)
• external key informants who received information from the funded projects (3 interviews total, with a total of 4 of interviewees). Funding recipients identified these external dissemination partners during their interviews. Evaluators then selected them through snowball sampling^{Footnote 6} when funding recipients confirmed they had shared project information with them

Persistent challenges in ELCC

The ELCC sector is in transformation, and continues to face persistent challenges, with affordability and accessibility remaining key concerns despite significant fee reductions in several provinces.^{Footnote 9} Accessibility is further constrained by the prevalence of child care deserts, with nearly half of younger children living in areas lacking sufficient licensed spaces.^{Footnote 10}

The COVID-19 pandemic also introduced significant disruptions to the ELCC sector in Canada. This financial instability resulted in layoffs of staff, reduced child enrolment as a percentage of licensed capacity, and a decline in available spaces.^{Footnote 11}

Although there has been a net gain in child care spaces since 2020, some provinces are still in the process of recovering to pre-pandemic levels.^{Footnote 12} According to the 2025 Canadian Survey^{Footnote 13}:

• 49.7% of parents or guardians with a child using child care reported difficulty finding child care
• 30.2% of parents or guardians without a child using child care reported difficulty finding child care

Low-income households are disproportionately impacted. They are about 20% less likely to use child care services than higher-income families.^{Footnote 14} Vulnerable families face barriers such as limited offer of child care during non-standard hours, long waitlists, complex fee subsidy application processes, and a lack of practices that are culturally responsive.^{Footnote 15}

Newcomer and racialized families face additional challenges such as language barriers, lack of knowledge around the ELCC system, and exclusionary policies (for example, with regards to undocumented newcomers and asylum seekers).^{Footnote 16}

Workforce challenges, exacerbated by the pandemic, continue to hinder the sector's recovery and expansion.^{Footnote 17} P/Ts highlight shortage of qualified ECEs and have limited access to training in their ELCC Action Plans.^{Footnote 18}  Associated implications include:

• insufficient support for children with special needs, from gaps in specialized training
• limited capacity to deliver culturally responsive care, due to a lack of formal training in diversity, inclusion, and Indigenous awareness
• stagnation in professional development, and difficulty sustaining service quality, from insufficient ongoing staff development

Role of innovation

Canadian and international literature underscores the role innovations can play in the ELCC sector. The review suggests a need for understanding innovation in ELCC in broader terms - not merely as technological advancement, but as systemic, pedagogical, and service-level transformation.

Internationally, innovation in ELCC reflects efforts to address equity, inclusion, demographic shifts, and changing labour market needs. Several OECD countries have introduced practices such as play-based learning, digital literacy, flexible care models, and culturally responsive programming. These approaches aim to support diverse learners and families, particularly those experiencing vulnerability, through accessible, integrated, and tailored services.^{Footnote 19}

Innovation is commonly defined as the introduction or implementation of a novel solution, concept, or intervention that addresses a specific challenge or achieves a desired outcome in an effective and scalable manner. Internationally, there are various definitions used to describe innovation in the context of ELCC development.

As the Canadian ELCC sector continues to face persistent challenges, innovative approaches can play a role in supporting the transformation of the sector and informing effective practices to solve them. Overall, the Innovation Program supported projects that aligned with the challenges observed in the sector, either at the community, regional or national level.

By design, funding innovative projects is experimental, with the expectation that not all initiatives will succeed as intended. Social innovation inherently involves trial and error and higher risk, which means that it is not always possible to avoid failure.^{Footnote 20} In this context, targeted investments can test approaches at a small scale, generate evidence, and inform further refinement, replication, and scaling across the sector. The Innovation Program is one of the ELCC initiatives that aims to address the sector's challenges. Its was designed to support a limited number of projects to test innovative approaches. While it generated insights, it was not expected to directly address the breadth and complexity of challenges faced across the sector.

Canadian innovation ecosystem in ELCC

Across Canada, various institutional networks contribute to research and policy analysis in ELCC. Examples include the Canadian Child Care Federation, the Canadian Association for Research in Early Childhood, the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, and Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (also called Child Care Now), as well as provincial associations of early childhood educators. These networks play a role in knowledge sharing through annual conferences, professional development, and networking events.

P/Ts also report supporting various approaches aligned with ELCC priority areas, including affordability, accessibility, quality, inclusivity, and flexibility. These approaches include:

• supporting the creation of child care spaces through targeted funding and support, with priority focus on underserved communities
• ensuring equitable access to child care services by introducing fee grids, providing subsidies and grants, and allocating targeted funding to make child care centres fully accessible and inclusive
• improving quality of ELCC services driven by workforce development and introducing wage enhancement initiatives
• innovations in curriculum, by implementing curriculum frameworks supporting children's learning experiences
• promoting inclusivity and flexibility, by implementing inclusive child care programs supporting Indigenous children and children with special needs, adopting flexible service provision models targeting families with non-standard work hours and introducing new learning models

At the national level, coordination mechanisms have emerged in recent years. In 2022, federal, provincial, and territorial ministers created the Forum of Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Ministers Most Responsible for Early Learning and Child Care. It provides a platform to "discuss common priorities, share information and best practices, and set priorities for multilateral collaboration in areas of shared interest."^{Footnote 22} The National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care, was established in 2022 with a mandate to "provide expert advice and serve as a forum for consultation on issues and challenges facing the ELCC sector."^{Footnote 23}

The Innovation Program supports the ELCC sector by directly funding organizations to design and implement innovative projects, which are generally developed and delivered within specific local or regional contexts. These projects generate evidence-based findings, and disseminate lessons learned and best practices to stakeholders across the sector, with the aim of enabling project replication or adaptation in other regions or communities. This reflects the need to balance the locally grounded nature of many innovative practices and the Innovation Program's objective to disseminate results nationally and support the replication or adaptation of tools, models, and services at the local, regional, and national levels.

It is difficult to determine the extent to which P/Ts also support innovative practices and address similar sector challenges. While outside of the scope of this evaluation's reference period, program officials have indicated that the most recent CFP has attempted to adapt funding parameters to ensure priorities align with changing national and P/T priorities. Also, program documents and key informant interviews indicate that program officials consulted P/T counterparts to flag any concerns or duplication about projects under consideration for funding, demonstrating some engagement in the project selection stage.

The program encouraged funding recipients to collaborate with partners to design, deliver, and share results from their projects. Based on project reports, many did, mostly at local and regional levels. Some P/Ts also provided support to projects as funding or in-kind contribution.

While there is some evidence of engagement and information sharing, it remains unclear, based on the information available, the extent to which ESDC strategically leverages existing networks. To support best practices intended for national sharing and replication, the department should both disseminate through appropriate national channels and consider how it selects and supports projects to meet this objective.

2020 Call for proposals

The Innovation Program's 2020 CFP sought projects from eligible Canadian organizations. The objective was to explore new ideas to maximize innovative practices in ELCC services across Canada and support ELCC emerging needs and preparedness activities as a response to the pandemic. The CFP defined innovative approaches broadly as including:

• new ways of delivering programs or services
• building on an existing approach to deliver programs and services
• replicating an existing approach to reach a larger or new target population

ESDC received 496 applications and selected 20 projects for funding. Given the large number of applications, program officials prioritized projects that met specific criteria. A first criterion was alignment with pandemic-related needs and preparedness; all but 1 project indicated supporting this priority.

In addition, other prioritization criteria reflected equity considerations consistent with a GBA Plus approach, focusing on vulnerable children and families, cultural diversity, respect and inclusion and gender equality. The 2020 CFP also identified OLMCs as a priority group. As a result:^{Footnote 24}

• 12 projects targeted vulnerable children and families with unique child care needs
• 9 projects promoted cultural diversity, respect and inclusion, and gender equality
• 8 projects fostered the next generation of ELCC sector leaders from diverse backgrounds
• 3 projects supported OLMCs across Canada^{Footnote 25}

Table 2 groups projects by their primary area of focus. This helps to illustrate the diversity of supports among funded projects. These categories reflect the types of tools used and supports offered.^{Footnote 26} As projects often address multiple areas, the total exceeds the number of funded projects.

Table 3 below shows that the selected projects represented a diversity of organization types, including other not-for-profit (14), academic institutions (3), Indigenous organizations^{Footnote 27} (2), and provincial/territorial entities (1). All organization types fall within the CFP's list of eligible organizations.

Table 4 below shows the scope of the funded projects. The number of projects funded are distributed between pan-provincial (9),  pan-Canadian (6), and community-based (5) project scopes. In terms of the amount and share of funding allocated, pan-provincial projects received the most funding with 41.8%.

British Columbia and Ontario each saw the highest number of funded projects (4), as shown in Table 5. Some projects also operated across Canada, beyond the province or territory where the funded organization was located. Organizations in the province of Québec could not apply for funding through the 2020 CFP. The federal government and the Government of Québec did not reach an agreement on terms enabling Québec-based organizations to apply for funding. This explains the absence of projects in Québec.

Application and selection process

Prior to the launch of the CFP, Innovation Program documents acknowledged the likelihood of receiving a high volume of applications. It noted this could lead to a delay in project implementation. Program officials confirmed that the large workload, compounded by the federal election and other factors, contributed to delays in the selection process. As a result, the first project did not begin until a year later than originally planned.

The pandemic also affected the application process. Organizations expressed concerns over meeting the application deadline. They stated a reduced capacity during the pandemic. The department extended the intake period by 1 month beyond the standard 5 weeks for grants and contributions. The 2020 CFP also encouraged organizations to partner with other organizations in implementing their projects, and to speak to these partnerships in their application.

According to the literature both in Canada ^{Footnote 29} and internationally^{Footnote 30}, allocating sufficient time for applicants is widely recognized as a key factor in developing strong proposals. Allowing sufficient time enables stakeholder engagement, a practice that is considered important in the non-profit sector, where such engagement often helps strengthen the relevance and impact of proposed initiatives.^{Footnote 31}

Extending the application period contributed to adding some delays to the selection process. However, the importance of engagement in the application development phase emerged as a theme from the key informant interviews with both program officials and funding recipients. Activities described included gathering feedback from project partners and other organizations on their submission, and consulting the community to collect insights and ensure their projects reflected their needs and perspectives. This suggests that providing extra time in the application period supported funding recipients in developing partnerships.

Project implementation

A recurring theme from key informant interviews with funding recipients was the difficulty with project timelines, particularly around the start date, and the delay between application and notification of acceptance.

ESDC protocols preventing communication with applicants during the review process combined with the delay in finalizing the selection process created uncertainty, with some organizations assuming their application had been unsuccessful. By the time the department confirmed funding, the operating environment had shifted. This was in part due to the pandemic, which made it more difficult to launch projects quickly. As a result, organizations reported facing challenges such as:

• revising plans to address increased costs, often requiring approvals, and creating further delays
• difficulty hiring staff during the pandemic, hindering timely implementation
• rebuilding momentum and engagement with project partners

Final reports also indicate that many organizations underestimated the time needed for the planning phase, which limited their ability to establish partner buy-in, build relationships, and identify bottlenecks. Despite delays and operational challenges, partnerships played a role in supporting project implementation, for example, by consulting Indigenous people on their project, promoting the project to their communities, and developing strategies for their project's success.

Limitations in assessing project outcomes

At the time of the evaluation, funding recipients from 12 of out 20 projects (60%) had submitted final reports. Several organizations, with projects that were still ongoing or recently completed, had not yet submitted final reports. This limits the ability to fully assess project results against the Innovation Program's objectives to explore, test, and develop innovative approaches.

Based on program reporting requirements, funding recipients reported on clients' results, factors contributing to success, challenges encountered, lessons learned, and success stories. While funding recipients generally reported on these elements, the depth of information varied, reflecting different levels of organizational capacity. As a result, projects varied in how systematically they tested or evaluated approaches for effectiveness, scalability, or adaptability.

Among best practices adopted to evaluate innovative approaches:

• 2 projects included a researcher and adopted a research framework including qualitative and quantitative measures of outcomes. One project collected data before and after intervention across multiple cohorts, and the other collected data from 1 site which then informed refinement, implementation, and assessment of the intervention at additional sites
• 1 project hired a firm to conduct an external evaluation of their project outcomes

Among other projects, 5 collected data from web visits, applications usage, or feedback from participants through questionnaires. However, based on the information provided, it is difficult to determine whether the information collected would be sufficient to inform further improvements, scalability, and broader analysis about how approaches compare to existing practices.

Lessons learned from project implementation

Available final reports and interviews with funding recipients offer insights into the challenges organizations encountered when developing and implementing innovative practices. The main barriers faced during implementation include:

• organization most frequently cited staffing issues, as they struggled to recruit and retain qualified personnel
• difficulties in coordinating with partners, including competition for staff and disagreements over project implementation. In some cases, the simultaneous rollout of other pandemic-related initiatives intensified competition for time and personnel, making collaboration more challenging
• several organizations underestimated the time and effort required to implement their projects, as many projects entailed developing content in collaboration with experts and partners
• others faced infrastructure and logistical constraints, for example a lack of classrooms to host their projects or technological issues with websites and applications

Insights from key informant interviews with funding recipients suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic, even during recovery, further compounded these challenges, causing delays and limiting access to communities and resources. Despite this, several projects leveraged virtual platforms and improved participants' technological skills as solutions to pandemic-related challenges.

These lessons learned underscore the importance of providing adequate time, support, and flexibility for organizations, especially with smaller or community-based ones, to engage in meaningful innovation.

Promoting cultural diversity, respect and inclusion, and gender equality

Overall, almost half (9) of the funded projects reported promoting cultural diversity, respect and inclusion, or gender equality. Many projects emphasized cultural diversity in their project design and implementation. Strategies include:

• engaging and consulting with Indigenous and newcomer communities to tailor programs to be inclusive and respectful
• embedding Indigenous knowledge systems and land-based learning into early childhood programming
• including Elders and community members to teach children and tell stories, conduct ceremonies, and provide guidance

Targeting vulnerable children and families with unique child care needs

Out of the 20 funded projects, more than half (12) integrated strategies to target vulnerable children and families with unique child care needs. They include lower-income families, families with children with varying abilities, rural and remote families, new Canadians, Indigenous families, and children with disabilities. Strategies included:

• creating a course for ECE educators to specialize in caring for children with autism
• developing and testing training resources for caring for children with challenging behavioural issues and applying these training methods to their own ELCC services
• developing hybrid training and personalized support for ECE educators in Francophone minority communities, focusing on practices supporting inclusion
• testing a transferable evidence-based outdoor educational model for children and families in Francophone minority communities
• developing multilingual resources and language support for non-English/French speaking parents
• creating community spaces for peer support and resources for families

Supporting the next generation of ELCC sector leaders from diverse backgrounds

Eight (8) funded projects reported supporting the next generation of ELCC sector leaders from diverse backgrounds. Most projects focused on mentorship, skills training, or post-secondary training. The projects indicated considering the unique conditions of Indigenous peoples, racialized Canadians and newcomers/immigrants. However, evaluators found evidence was sometimes limited as to how these groups were specifically considered in project activities. Examples of activities include:

• providing professional development to build knowledge, confidence, and leadership among educators in outdoor play education. This aims to address immediate staffing challenges and contribute to long-term leadership in quality programming
• creating opportunities for students and research assistants to gain hands-on experience in community engagement, data collection, and analysis. This aims to support skill development for emerging researchers, ensuring future capacity in early childhood education and implementation
• conducting outreach efforts directly to post-secondary educational institutions to discuss and share ideas on how to support ELCC leaders. It also includes engaging with communities and leaders to incorporate the unique context faced by these groups in the training and supports of their program
• providing training, resources, and ongoing support for service provider agencies and ELCC programs to develop and guide the implementation of inclusive practices

Early feedback from project reports

Overall, the information contained in project reports reiterated projects' commitment to supporting cultural diversity, respect and inclusion, gender diversity, as well as supporting vulnerable children and families with unique child care needs. Early feedback from project reports suggests that:

• inclusive environments that respected children's cultural identity and developmental needs supported improvements in language skills, emotional regulation, and social interaction
• culturally relevant programming helped families feel connected to and valued within their communities
• parents reported feeling more confident and supported, particularly among those who had experienced trauma or isolation
• educators reported feeling more confident and competent after taking training, particularly in implementing inclusive practices and culturally responsive approaches
• ECE educators credited support groups created across provinces and territories with fostering collaboration and professional growth, while helping to reduce stress and feelings of isolation

However, projects also reported challenges that limited their ability to fully address these objectives. Barriers such as competing demands on families' time and housing instability reduced participation and made it difficult for some families to benefit from the supports available.

Data collection

The team reviewed the following documents, provided by the Federal Secretariat on Early Learning and Child Care, to support the ELCC Innovation Program evaluation:

• Twelve (12) submitted final project reports
• Twenty (20) project summary reports
• program documents such as Memoranda to Cabinet, Treasury Board Submissions, briefing memos, notes to files, financial reports and budget proposals, application guide, and other documents

The ELCC Innovation Program funded 20 projects as part of the 2020 CFP. Early in the evaluation, the program noted the delay of 3 projects. Therefore, the evaluation team examined 17 innovation projects. At the time of the document review, the ELCC Program had received final reports for 12 of the 17 completed projects. The findings presented in the project results are based on the outcomes of these 12 projects for which final reports have been received.

Data analysis

Based on the program objectives and evaluation questions, evaluators developed themes to guide the document review and analysis of project reports. The team then coded key documents to these themes. After coding documents, the team analyzed themes for each evaluation question and consolidated the results into findings. The Document Review Technical Report is available upon request.

Data collection

The objective of the key informant interviews was to gather more in-depth information about the Innovation Program. This includes its relevance to the ELCC ecosystem, its design and delivery, as well as strengths, challenges and lessons learned. ESDC evaluators conducted 24 virtual semi-structured interviews with key informants in their official language of choice. The team conducted the interviews to complement the document and literature reviews and to add context to findings from recipient reports.

Due to the interview process using different questionnaires, evaluators split key informants into the following 3 groups:

• internal ESDC key informants: 5 interviews in total, involving 9 interviewees
• external key informants from organizations which received funding as part of the 2020 CFP: 16 interviews in total, involving 26 interviewees^{Footnote 32}
• external key informants who received information from funded projects: 3 interviews in total, involving 4 interviewees

Evaluators always kept key informants' responses and analysis separate throughout due to differences in interview questions. The evaluation team clearly delineated each group's responses by labelling them as "INTERNAL" (ESDC program officials), "EXTERNAL" (funding recipients) and "EXTERNAL DISSEMINATION" (dissemination recipients).

Internal ESDC key informants consisted of ELCC program officials and members of the Program Operations Branch (POB). External key informants consisted of funding recipients from the ELCC Innovation 2020 CFP.^{Footnote 33} Interviewed funding recipients identified the dissemination recipients for interview.

Data analysis

Following completion of key informant interviews (KII) in August 2025, evaluators used MAXQDA to code KII notes taken during interviews. The evaluation team split up the interviews for coding. To ensure accurate coding and analysis, the team developed a codebook.

To quantify KII responses, the team created an ordinal list showing how many KIIs had similar responses.

• 0 to 25% = few
• 26 to 49% = some
• 50% = half
• 51 to 74% = a majority
• 75 to 99% = most
• 100% = all

The report presents KII findings in the relevance, design and delivery, and results and performance sections.

Data collection

The objective of the targeted literature review was to examine challenges in the ELCC sector within the Canadian context. It also aimed to synthesize evidence on how various innovative approaches/practices in ELCC - internationally and in Canada - address barriers faced by parents in accessing high-quality and affordable early learning and child care services. The literature review also highlighted innovative practices and approaches that aimed to make ELCC services more responsive to the needs of families and children experiencing vulnerability. The review was not exhaustive. Rather, it provided a general overview of innovative ELCC approaches/practices that could support the examination of Evaluation Question 1 (How has the ELCC Innovation Program supported the ELCC's overall objectives?).

The review drew on a selection of documents, including documents from ESDC and other federal departments, reports from academic and non-profit organizations, and publications from international bodies. In addition, the literature review included 12 ELCC Action Plans prepared by provinces and territories (P/Ts) as well as the P/T annual reports (except Quebec) from FY 2021 to 2022 to FY 2023 to 2024. The program provided these documents.

Data analysis

Data analysis focused on key aspects relevant to evaluating the ELCC Innovation Program. They include:

• challenges in the ELCC sector within the Canadian context
• innovative approaches in early learning and child care responsive to the needs of children and families experiencing vulnerability, as well as children with unique child care requirements
• promotion of cultural diversity, respect and inclusion, and gender equality
• support for the next generation of ELCC sector leaders
• pandemic response within the context of early learning and child care education

The analysis also addressed innovative practices in Canada and internationally. They looked at the need for innovative practices, factors driving their emergence, and the approaches currently implemented or in development.