This section provides an in-depth overview of provincial/territorial vs federal roles in funding of early childhood education using relevant sources such as the Early Childhood Education Report.
The 2023 Early Childhood Education report contains information covering all aspects of Early Education from K-12. The annual release of this report is crucial to address different policy domains that could require improvement. Statistics regarding the number of children attending each provincial/territorial public school’s ECE program are recorded (private school data not shared) to manage federal funding accordingly. These statistics are extremely important because of the increased interest parents show towards full day kindergarten and the funding necessary to support this. The report reflects on the average public dollar amount per child attending kindergarten spent for each province/territory to track annual progress and report it to the federal government.
| Province/territory | Expenditures towards ECE in 2023 |
|---|---|
| Alberta | $1, 628.407,000 |
| British Columbia | $1, 424,628,000 |
| Saskatchewan | $415,317,334 (ECE and childcare included) |
| Manitoba | $3, 679,000,000 |
| Ontario | $7, 231,797,036 (Strictly ECE) |
| Québec | $5, 584,044,285 |
| Nova Scotia | $4, 851,688 |
| New Brunswick | $348,502,790 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $565, 847,694 |
| Prince Edward Island | $81,509,844 |
| Nunavut | $24,080,507 |
| Yukon | $50,798,400 |
| Northwest Territories | $37,128,998 |
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Other financial factors that are considered in this report include locations of elementary schools, number of children requiring educational assistance and Indigenous children. Early learning for the Indigenous peoples of Canada is financially covered by federal departments such as:
Funding for children with disabilities in early education is in part covered by the recently implemented Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF) Small Projects Component on Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC). Early Education for children with disabilities is covered in extensive detail in our Benefits and subsidies section Benefits and Subsidies .
With the creation of Budget 2016 the federal government had promised to allocate $129.4 million towards improving Early Childhood Education (and Childcare) for Indigenous children in Canada, specifically to improve education for Indigenous children living on reserves. Indigenous Services Canada took the necessary step and used this funding for;