#AtWhatCost Are We Allowing This to Continue?

Join the Movement for Provincial Autonomy in Childcare 


Operators that have Signed our Petition

Canada’s Childcare Landscape: Understanding the Numbers

Take a look at the pie chart—it’s a snapshot of the diverse childcare landscape across Canada!

In 2022, Canada had 45,366 childcare providers nationwide, categorized into three primary groups: 31% are childcare centers, 33% are licensed home-based settings, and 36% are unlicensed home-based providers.

This breakdown, sourced from Statistics Canada, underscores the importance of providing families with choices. Whether parents select a center or home-based setting, having options allows them to find the best fit for their children’s needs and their own family values. Parental choice is key to a strong childcare system that serves families across the country!

Explore our bar graph. It’s more than just numbers—it’s about impact.

Here, we compare the total childcare spaces from 2022 to those represented by the operators who have already signed our petition.

It’s a powerful reminder of the vast network of providers who are standing with us for change. These spaces are not just stats; they’re childcare spots filled with learning, and growth for Canada’s children.

Your voice matters! By signing our petition, you join a community fighting for accessible, high-quality childcare for all.

Let’s make our collective impact even greater—sign the petition today and help us reshape the future of childcare in Canada!

Despite efforts to make childcare more affordable, frozen fees and insufficient subsidies prevent providers from expanding or sustaining their services.

This results in long waitlists, particularly in urban and rural areas, with the majority of the funded spaces being taken up by higher-income earners. As a result, the system becomes increasingly inequitable, leaving low-income families and newcomers without access!


ACCESS 

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#atwhatcost: The real impact

Our Ask

Empower Provinces to Build a Better Childcare System

Quality

Enhance the quality of childcare services.

Accessibility

Increase childcare accessibility.

Our proposal for no-strings-attached envelope funding would give financial support directly to the provinces without any federal conditions. This would untie the hands of each province, allowing them to design and implement childcare funding models that truly work for their families and operators. At the same time, we are advocating for equitable and sustainable solutions at the provincial level, such as a "funding follows the family" approach. This model respects both parental and operator choice, allowing funding to move with families to their chosen childcare center—whether private, non-profit, or home-based—reducing fees and minimizing unnecessary bureaucratic administrative costs, red tape and government overreach.

It’s time to cut the strings. The federal government shouldn’t be telling provinces how to spend their childcare funding. Childcare falls under provincial jurisdiction, so it’s time to respect that and give provinces the power to create solutions that work for their families. 

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Real People, Real Impact

Support Us

Join Our Call for Respecting Provincial Jurisdiction in Childcare 

Affordable, quality, and accessible childcare is a priority for all of us, and federal control with strings attached is not and will not deliver on these three goals. We need to respect provincial jurisdiction, allowing provinces to manage childcare programs in ways that are effective and efficient for their unique needs.

to demand respect for provincial jurisdiction and support sustainable childcare funding reform, ensuring a better future for our children. #AtWhatCost

our letter

ACE National Coalition of Childcare Operators
Grande Prairie, AB, T8V 8L1
www.acenational.ca 

August 20, 2024
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

Subject: Urgent Call for Reform: Respect Provincial Jurisdiction in Federal-Provincial Child Care Agreements

We, the undersigned, write to you as provincial leaders, stakeholders, and advocates united under the banner of the ACE National Coalition of Childcare Operators. We are leading a national movement to reform the Federal - Provincial Early Learning and Child Care agreements. The current system comes at a great cost, with thousands of families on waitlists and providers facing sustainability challenges that directly impact affordability, quality, and access to care. #AtWhatCost are we allowing this to continue?

Our Ask
We demand that the federal government respects provincial jurisdiction by modifying the current funding within the agreements to simple envelope funding—without strings attached—for the provinces to spend on these key priorities:

1. Affordability: Make childcare more affordable for families.
2. Quality: Enhance the quality of childcare services.
3. Accessibility: Increase childcare accessibility.

Federal ideological mandates should not dictate how these funds are allocated. It's time to respect provincial jurisdiction and empower provinces and their families, ensuring a sustainable, affordable, high-quality, and accessible childcare system for all Canadians.

At the provincial level, once freed from federal restrictions, we advocate for equitable and sustainable solutions, such as a “funding follows the family” approach. This model respects both parental and operator choice, allowing funding to move with families to their chosen childcare provider—whether private, non-profit, or home-based—directly reducing fees and minimizing unnecessary bureaucratic costs, red tape, and government overreach.

Thank you for your consideration and support.

Sincerely,

Krystal Churcher
Chair, ACE National Coalition of Childcare Operators
www.aacenational.ca 

On behalf of the undersigned supporters attached.

2. Send a Letter to Government 

1. Sign the Petition

Two ways to contribute your voice

Sign The Petition

Join Our Call for Respecting Provincial Jurisdiction in Childcare Programs