The Canadian Press
Joanna Smith
OTTAWA–The new national child care deal the Liberal government has signed with the provinces might not be a universal program, but Families minister Jean-Yves Duclos said it could make way for one later down the road.
“It’s an aspiration and long-term vision that is coherent with universality,” Duclos said yesterday after he signed a multilateral agreement with the provinces and territories, excluding Quebec, which decided not to join, and British Columbia, still working through the impact of its recent election.
The Liberal government negotiated the agreement–called the Multilateral Early Learning and Child Care Framework–to set out the parameters for billions in new child care spending unveiled in the 2017 budget: quality, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, and inclusivity.
“This agreement will help give more Canadian children the best possible start in life and provide more support to families across our country,” Duclos noted.
“This is the start of a vision and aspiration to help all Canadian children and all Canadian families live the fulfilling lives that they want to live and that they expect to live.”
The multilateral framework is meant to pave the way for separate bilateral agreements to be hammered out with the provinces and territories over the next few months, which will allow a total of $1.2 billion to flow into their coffers over the next three years.
That is part of the $7.5 billion the Liberals have promised to spend over a decade on child care, beginning with $500 million this year and increasing to $870 million annually by 2026 in order to fund spaces–or improvements–in provinces and territories, as well as indigenous child care both on- and off-reserve.
Quebec, which has had its own universal child care program for 20 years, did not join the framework.
The province wants to keep child care solely within its jurisdiction, but said it supports the general principles and is expected to reach a bilateral deal with the federal government to get its share of the money flowing.
As The Canadian Press reported last week, the framework stipulates any new federal funding for child care cannot be used to displace existing money, meaning it must be put towards creating new subsidized spaces, improving quality, or other areas that fall within the guiding principles.
