Parent Time

Three years ago Today’s Parent gave readers a snapshot of how different Canadian provinces stacked up in the child care arena. We analyzed statistics on child care spaces, provincial spending, training standards and other indicators of quality and availability.

Now it’s time to check in again to see what has changed.

The big picture

If you think it’s hard to find licensed child care these days, think what it must have been like in 1992 when there were fewer than half as many licensed child care spaces as there are now. Back then, Canada had enough regulated child care to accommodate 7.5% (one in 13) of children aged 12 and under. Now we have enough spots for 17.20f kids.

However, a huge chunk of that increase took place in Quebec, where the number of child care spaces has risen by more than 280,000 (361%) since 1992. Over the same period, the increase in the rest of the country was just over 78,000 spaces. Per capita spending in Quebec went from $122 per child (0–12 years) in 1992 to $1,617 in 2006. In comparison, the increase in the rest of Canada (from $164 per child to $263) looks rather paltry.

The good news

Spending is up across the country. Low-rollers New Brunswick and Nova Scotia doubled their per-child spending and Newfoundland and Labrador came close to doing the same.

Note that Manitoba, which already spent more money per child than any province except Quebec, also had the biggest increase in spending, at $143 per child. It’s also striking that our richest province, Alberta, is now the most miserly when it comes to child care spending.

Canada’s three territories were not included in our 2004 rankings due to lack of data, but 2006 numbers show that Nunavut, at $255 per child, and the Northwest Territories at $292 per child, are close to Ontario and BC, while the Yukon is the country’s second-highest spender at $1,120.

The percentage of children (0–12 years) for whom there is a regulated child care space is up in every province. However, only part of that is due to an increase in spaces. Our population of children aged 12 and under is shrinking, which makes the already modest increases (in most provinces) look better than they really are. Quebec, which had by far the most spaces in 2001, also experienced the greatest per capita growth, with spaces for almost 14% more of its kids in 2006 compared to 2001.

Saskatchewan and Newfoundland (which ranked dead last in spaces in 2001) continue to bring up the rear.

Originally published in Today's Parent, April 2008