Parents want a bigger role in Canada’s child care future

ACE says parents and child care operators across Canada are asking governments to include them in the next phase of child care policy as funding deals evolve. The push comes as families worry about losing affordable spaces, while providers say current rules make it hard to expand and stay viable.

Why it matters: - Families and providers are asking for a say in how Canada’s child care system evolves as the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program enters its next phase. - The stakes are immediate for parents who already have affordable care and for families still trying to find a licensed space. - Policy changes could affect fees, access, and whether operators can keep existing programs open or expand into underserved areas.

What happened: - ACE National held a town hall on September 24 with parents and child care operators from across Canada. - The discussion focused on affordability, access, and the future of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program. - One parent who could not find an affordable space said she felt “invisible” in CWELCC. - Parents in Toronto with $22-a-day spaces compared getting one to winning the lottery. - ACE Board Chair and Executive Director Krystal Churcher said both parents who have care and parents who do not deserve to be heard.

The details: - Operators said current funding restrictions and policy requirements make it hard to sustain quality programs. - Some providers face barriers to expansion. - Others are seeing declining enrolment and unused capacity. - ACE says a “funding follows the child” model could let families take affordability funding to the eligible licensed provider of their choice. - ACE says that approach could make better use of existing licensed spaces in Ontario and other provinces. - The town hall also discussed tying expansion to local demand. - Some communities in Alberta and British Columbia have more spaces than they can fill. - Rural and underserved areas have too few spaces. - Income-tested assistance was raised as a way to direct more funding to lower-income families while keeping fees stable for families already using the system. - Alberta’s current agreement expires March 31, 2027. - Canada and Ontario have since announced a four-year extension with nearly $12 billion in federal funding through March 2031. - Ontario’s commitment to keep current parent fees in place runs only through June 30, 2027. - Those fees average $19 a day and are capped at $22. - Families still do not know what they will pay beginning July 1 or how families outside the program will gain access to affordable care. - British Columbia has paused new provider enrolment in its $10-a-day program while continuing to fund existing participants. - ACE is asking provincial and federal governments to involve parents and frontline operators in the next phase of child care policy. - That includes families with affordable care, families still searching, and operators who deliver and expand services. - Parents and operators can add their voice at yourchildcare.ca.

Between the lines: - The message from the town hall is that child care policy is now as much about who gets included as how much funding is available. - ACE is warning that celebrating lower fees will not be enough if access remains uneven or providers cannot stay afloat. - The debate is shifting toward local planning, flexible funding, and whether governments measure success by slots created or by families actually served.

What's next: - Governments will need to set the next stage of child care policy before current agreements and fee commitments expire. - Families in Ontario still need clarity on what happens after June 30, 2027. - Provinces will also need to decide how to grow access in communities with unmet demand while avoiding empty spaces where supply already exceeds need. - ACE says parents and operators should help shape those decisions, not just receive them after the fact.

The bottom line: - ACE wants governments to stop treating child care policy as a top-down announcement and start treating parents and operators as part of the design process.