The report commends the government for meeting Nova Scotia’s targets in the bilateral funding agreement with the federal government. However, significant challenges remain to realize affordable parent fees, enough regulated child care spaces in all communities throughout the province, and strong wages for Early Childhood Educators (ECEs).
Key Findings:
- Insufficient funding: Current operational funding does not cover the true cost of quality care.
- Affordability Challenges Persists: Some families continue to pay $5,000-$8,000 annually for child care.
- Limited Access: Only 30% of communities have reached the bilateral target of providing enough spaces for 59% of children.
- Workforce Challenges: ECEs continue to face low wages, pay inequities, and limited training supports, which are major barriers to recruitment and retention.
- Weak accountability: The current legislative framework and regulations do not guarantee that public funds support public and non-profit expansion and prevent the growth of lower-quality private for-profit services.
“We need increased investments and policy changes to ensure high-quality care for children, fair compensation for educators, and reliable access for families in all regions,” co-author Kenya Thompson warns. “However, the recent purchase of 11 child care centres and just over 1,700 child care spaces in Nova Scotia by a France multinational corporation is cause for serious concern. Without significant course corrections, Nova Scotia risks wasting the opportunity the federal government’s funding provides and entrenching its longstanding patchwork system instead of completing the transformation families were promised in 2021.”
“We are pleased to work with the government to continue expanding access to quality, affordable and inclusive non-profit child care in this province,” says Karen Wright, Executive Director of the North End Community Day Care Centre, a non-profit child care provider in Halifax.
Wright further expands, “We ask, however, that the government improve the expansion process, and provide a new funding model to ensure that we have sufficient staffing and resources, for ECEs to have the time and support they need, because their working conditions are the learning conditions for our youngest children.”
“In 2021, advocates were excited that finally, after decades of advocacy, a publicly-funded, high-quality, universal, non-profit system of Early Learning and Child Care was on the horizon,” says Meghan Richard, Child Care Now Nova Scotia, coordinator and co-author.
“We’re still hopeful, but there’s still so much work needed to be done to support children and families across our province,” adds Richard.
“If done correctly, we have a historic opportunity to build a publicly funded, high-quality child care system that will benefit families, communities, the economy and all Nova Scotians for generations,” says Richard.
The authors outline a roadmap to follow to take full advantage of the investments that have been made, offering recommendations for federal and provincial governments to deliver a system of universal, comprehensive, publicly funded, high-quality, affordable, accessible, accountable, non-profit early learning and child care that advances social inclusion.
“The Province committed to building a universal public good,” says Christine Saulnier, co-author and CCPA-NS director.
“If we stay the course and follow the evidence, Nova Scotia can build a high-quality early learning and child care system. Any detour risks depriving children of the opportunities they deserve. It will require extra public funding that should be part of the upcoming Nova Scotia budget, especially since the return on investment is substantial– for every dollar invested in early childhood education, the broader economy gains between $1.05 and $6.00 in return, ” says Saulnier.
