Canada’s national unions have joined together to advocate for more child care.

Millions of Canada workers are members of unions.  Child care is a real workplace issue. How many parents need acommodation from their employers when they return to work after maternity leave because they lack reliable child care? Lots.

In November, the Canadian Human Resource Reporter published a survey showing that 30% of calls to employee assistance programs were researching child care.  It’s an astonishing number of calls and shows that child care is a top workplace issue.

The first step of Rethink Child Care is The Video. It’s a “much watch” and you can find it here: http://rethinkchildcare.ca/video/

MP Mike Sullivan, a federal MP, has come forward with a big question, “What’s going on in Child Care?!”

To look deeper into the issue he has invited YOU, parents and organizations, to meet up at the York Civic Centre on April 9th at 7pm to host a meeting to discuss the crisis in child care and find ways that it could be fixed. » Continue reading “Important Meeting with MP Mike Sullivan… and Olivia Chow!!”

March 26th, 2013. Mr. Phil McNeely askes Hon. Liz Sandals about Child Care:

Mr. Phil McNeely: My question is to the Minister of Education. Many of my constituents have been coming to me with questions about our government’s work on child care. For my constituents, child care is essential for their child’s development. It offers our children an opportunity to be social and learn important interactive skills.

» Continue reading “An Important and Pressing Question in the Legislature!”

An additional $113 million in capital funding has been allotted for school boards (over three years) to support a Schools-First Child Care Capital Retrofit Policy. This funding is intended to help transform child care programs in schools from spaces for 4 and 5 year-olds to programs for younger children.

Municipal Service managers and school boards are responsible for developing a child care plan for minor capital for child care centres in schools. School boards must apply for funding before January 14, 2013 and the money must be spent by August 31, 2015. Funding is very limited and every school board has been allocated a specific number of spaces to convert. » Continue reading “New Capital Funding for Child Care in Schools”

The Canadian government has just received a report card on its commitments to fulfilling children’s rights from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.  Canada was given mixed reviews from the UN.

The UN appreciated Canada’s strides to strengthen laws protecting children from sexual exploitation and the provision of new programs and services. The UN also highlighted the importance of governing and establishing better co-ordination between the provincial and federal government.

The federal government tabled 127 pages of responses to the UN’s questions just two weeks before the hearings. And while the documents were full of facts, figures and links to websites, they did not show systematically whether any of the provincial or federal initiatives were improving the lives of Canadian children.

Notable excerpts:

The Committee is concerned that despite the State party’s significant resources, there has been a lack of funding directed towards the improvement of early childhood development and affordable and accessible early childhood care and services. The Committee is also concerned by the high cost of child-care, the lack of available places for children, the absence of uniform training requirements for all child-care staff and of standards of quality care. The Committee notes that early childhood  care and education continues to be inadequate for children under four years of age. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that the majority of early childhood care and education services in the State party are provided by private, profit-driven institutions, resulting in such services being unaffordable for most families.

Referring to General Comment No. 7 (CRC/C/GC/7/Rev.1, 2005), the Committee recommends that the State party further improve the quality and coverage of its early childhood care and education, including by:

• Prioritizing the provision of such care to children between the age of 0 and 3 years, with a view to ensuring that it is provided in a holistic manner that includes overall child development and the strengthening of parental capacity;
• Increasing the availability of early childhood care and education for all children, by considering providing free or affordable early childhood care whether through State-run or private facilities;
• Establishing minimum requirements for training of child care workers and for improvement of their working conditions; and
• Conducting a study to provide an equity impact analysis of current expenditures on early childhood policies and programs, including all child benefits and transfers, with a focus on children with higher vulnerability in the early years.

To read the concluding observations of the UN committee, click here.

To read the CCAAC’s (our national partner) letter to the NGO 
Committee 
on
 the 
Rights 
of 
the 
Child this fall, click here.

Media:

To read an article from Huffington Post, click here.

To read more go to the Toronto Star article.

Davenport Public Meeting

Are you concerned about cuts to childcare, recreation centers, libraries, TTC, shelters and school nutrition programs?

You have an opportunity to voice your concerns to Ward 17 – Davenport councillor Cesar Palacio

From January 17th to 19th, City Council will vote on the 2012 budget. We are in danger of losing nearly $90 million in services. This is our last chance to raise our concerns and speak out.

» Continue reading “Toronto: Davenport Public Meeting – Thursday January 12″

On March 31st, Michael Ignatieff announced the Liberal Party’s Child Care and Early Learning Platform for the May 2011 election. Ignatieff vowed a Liberal government would invest $500 Million to a new Early Learning and Care fund that would grow to $1 Billion annually by the fourth federal budget. » Continue reading “Liberals Announce Early Learning and Child Care Platform”

Canada is headed towards its 41st election on May 2nd, 2011. Parents, child care workers, and allies all want to know how child care will fit in to party platforms and where the needs of our families and communities fall in their list of priorities.

» Continue reading “Federal Election 2011: Where does Child Care Fit In?”

Five years after the Harper government cut the National Child Care program, and after ridiculous statements by Minister Diane Finley suggesting a national child care program would force parents to force parents “to have other people raise their children,” the debate over the need for a national child care program is back in the news.

With the Federal Budget announced and quickly dismissed by opposition parties, we are headed to a Federal Election this spring. National Child Care must stay on the public agenda.

On March 7th, 2011, the YWCA released the report Eucated, Employed and Equal to point out the fact that social services such as child care have not caught up with the fact that the majority of women are now reaching higher levels of education and are participating in the paid workforce. To read the report, please click here. To read an article from the Toronto Star about the issue, please click here.

» Continue reading “National Child Care Program Back in the News”

On Marcy 7th, 2011, in honour of International Women’s Day, The YWCA  released Educated, Employed and Equal speaking about the need to have a national child-care program in Canada. The success of the country depends on a labor force that is educated and skilled.

The number of women in the workforce has gone up every year. Women in the labor force has doubled from 1976-2009 to more than 7.7 million. “Employment for women with infants and toddlers hit 64.4 per cent in 2009, up from 27.6 per cent in 1976. That number jumped to almost 79 per cent for women with children between the ages of 6 and 15 — almost the same rate for women without children…”

60% of university graduates are women. With so many more highly educated women in the work force that have children it is a great benefit to have a national child care program.

To read the full story, please click here.