Echoing the same concerns that would are heard here in Canada, the  The Australian Services Union (ASU)  has urged the Federal Government to transfer child care to local government following the collapse of private sector companies, such as ABC Learning Centres. » Continue reading “Australian Union calls for not-for-profit care”

www.waitingforchildcare.ca is a project of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care. We are currently touring Ontario to talk to front-line child care providers to engage local parents.

“Barrie mom Ruth Howorth is grateful to have a good day-care centre for her two children.

Howorth has placed her kids at the Simcoe Early Education and Development Services (SEEDS) co-op at St. Peter’s High School, but it was a struggle to get there.

“I went on the waiting list from the moment my daughter was born, and I waited for a full year,” said Howorth. “I called every day in the last three months (of my maternity leave), to try and see if there was space for her.”

To read the full article, please click here.

To read the full article, please click here. From the report:

After telling us about the high expense, the ineffectiveness of the “Harper hundred” subsidy and the lack of daycare spaces, some argued that the most urgent issue is that it’s the kids who are most affected by the current state of daycare in Canada. Here’s a summary of the themes that emerged:

‘It’s a pittance’: $100 per month; Costs!? What about space!; How Parents Manage; The Biggest Issue: The Kids!

Expansion of affordable child care is a key component of an anti-poverty strategy. In Quebec, affordable and universal child care led to a reduction in child poverty by 50%. Child care is key for parents to keep their jobs or go back to school. Our economy can’t recover and poverty reducation won’t be a success without child care!

To read the full article, please click here.

Due to budget cuts by both the federal and provincial levels of government, Waterloo region could lose up to 700 child-care spaces.That’s the message child-care advocacy groups brought to Waterloo last week during the launch of a new website that will help parents who are having trouble finding day-care spots complain to their political representation in Toronto and Ottawa. » Continue reading “The Cambridge Voice: Group fights for child care”

By linking early child care and future economic competitiveness, Roger Martin and Richard Florida accomplished a rare feat in their recent report, “Ontario in the Creative Age.” They rightly note that to make the transition to an economy that values people’s creativity, social intelligence skills and cultural competency, Ontario needs good quality early child care and education programs. The challenge is that only a minority of our children have access to this kind of care.

 As UNICEF’s recent report, “The Childcare Transition,” says, investing in the early years yields higher social and economic returns than just about any other kind of investment in human capacity. Ensuring broad access to high quality early child care and education programs is an important foundation for moving successfully into the Creative Age. Unfortunately, the recent federal budget neglected this important investment opportunity. Ontario should not follow suit.

Nigel Fisher, President and CEO, UNICEF Canada

February 13, 2009, RECORD STAFF, WATERLOO REGION
Local daycare advocates launched a website yesterday asking parents seeking available and affordable childcare to lobby federal and provincial politicians. » Continue reading “Daycare website urges lobbying”

CBCNews.ca is running a series on child care including a questionaire of the costs of child care in different provinces.  Hundreds of families have listed their costs along with comments. You can look at child care costs for cities across the country. To fill out the survey and see the results go to: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/02/04/daycare-questionnaire.html

from an opinion piece:

And now my final issue. We are hearing daily of jobs being lost, people being laid off and now we are hearing of the possibility of losing thousands of day-care spaces in Ontario. Jenny Robinson, executive director of the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care, said, “given the current economic crisis, child care is more important than ever as parents go back to school or seek retraining to find work. Seventy per cent of moms with kids under the age of six have some kind of child care, so we really need it to operate our economy and to stimulate our community economy as well.” » Continue reading “Child care in the Sudbury Star”

The Toronto Star effectively explained why Dalton McGunity’s plan to spend 14 months lobbying the Federal Government will not work.

To read the editorial, please click here.