ABSTRACT

Despite being one of the wealthiest nations in the world, Canada’s ranking on early childhood education and care (ECEC) is among the lowest in the developed world (Mahon, 2011). Over a decade ago, the OECD (2006) described Canada’s ECEC services as a “patchwork” and “fragmented”, concluding that the care and education of young children in Canada is still in its “initial stages” (2006, p. 6). Two years later, UNICEF (2008) ranked Canada last out of 25 developed nations, noting that it met only one of ten benchmarks of quality ECEC services. Despite tireless efforts from advocates, researchers, the ECEC workforce and other stakeholder groups, Canadian ECEC policy and services remain entrenched in neoliberal principles, inconsistent and grossly underfunded across the country, and fragmented across and within the provinces. This chapter will focus specifically on the childcare aspect of ECEC in Canada, exploring what it currently looks like, how it came to be this way, and who provides services. Following a discussion of how ECEC and childcare services are broadly conceptualized, defined, and governed in the pan-Canadian policy context, key historical and contemporary childcare policy developments in Canada will be reviewed. The chapter will conclude with a brief description of the policy actions necessary for Canada to meaningfully address the chronic childcare crisis in Canada.