Following more women entering the workforce after WWII, childcare has increased in importance. In response, the federal government has launched several childcare initiatives since 1984 to address the variations in service quality, cost, accessibility, and inclusivity between provinces. Despite these efforts, many federal government initiatives have proven ineffective due to changes in government leadership and poor follow-through.
This task force was created by the Liberal government to examine the need for childcare services and paid parental leave, as well as to assess the federal government’s role in developing a high-quality national childcare system. The task force’s final report highlighted the critical state of childcare in Canada and urged the federal government to create a national childcare system, modelled on the cost-sharing arrangements between the federal and provincial governments in public health and education. These suggestions were not implemented in policy due to a government change.
This committee conducted the Mulroney Conservative government’s childcare study, which superseded the Katie Cooke report. Instead of advocating for a universal childcare system, the Mulroney report recommended tax breaks for parents, grants to for-profit centres, and business incentives to establish childcare facilities in the workplace. These findings were incorporated into Bill C-144, which was quickly abandoned during the Mulroney 1988 election campaign due to poor polling.
The Red Book was the Liberal party’s entire policy platform in the election season of 1993 under Jean Chretien. Within their proposed policy plan the Liberals claimed that if they came into power that they would create 150,000 child-care spaces over three years. However, when the party came into power they abandoned these commitments, shifting their focus to economic management and the threat of Quebec separatism.
In 2003, every province and territory except Quebec reached an agreement with the federal government under the Liberal Party to improve access to affordable, high-quality childcare programs and services. Although this national childcare program was never fully implemented, it helped establish provincial and territorial agreements that laid the groundwork for the Foundations Program, Canada's next attempt at a national childcare program
The Foundations Program was established following the election of Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, who built his election platform on the promise of creating a national childcare program. Agreements were reached between the federal government and all provinces and territories, except Quebec, allowing federal funding to flow to twelve provinces and territories. However, this funding lasted only one year, as the Conservative Party, led by Stephen Harper, scrapped the program when they came to power in 2006
For the next decade, following Paul Martin’s defeat, Canada remained under the leadership of the Conservative Party led by prime minister Stephen Harper. During this period publicly funded childcare was removed from federal government’s agenda.
This federal childcare initiative was created under the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau. The Multilateral Framework Agreement facilitated federal investment into the childcare systems of provinces and territories, aiming to improve childcare quality, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, and inclusivity. All provinces and territories signed the agreement, and the federal government committed $7.5 billion in funding through its 2016 and 2017 budgets to meet these childcare goals. The Multilateral Framework Agreement on Early Learning and Child Care was in place until 2021 and was the precursor to the current Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
Click here to learn more: National Childcare Policy Overview