Powering Growth: Economic Benefits from Canada’s $10-per-day Early Learning and Child Care Program report by Dr. Jim Stanford, Economist and Director, Centre for Future Work shows new $10aDay Child Care Plan is having a significant impact on Canada’s Economy. Canada’s new $10-per-day national early learning and child care (ELCC) program is only two years old, but the program is already making a measurable difference to Canada’s economy.

This report contains a snapshot of the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care’s work and associated impacts between September 2023 and August 2024. It provides context to understand the significance of the ECELC’s advocacy and policy initiatives and demonstrates how the Council continues to work towards building an effective system of early learning and child care in Edmonton that is high quality, affordable, inclusive, flexible and culturally responsive while being publicly planned, regulated and funded, just like other core public services.

Federal and provincial governments have embarked on a major undertaking to build systems of early learning and child care across Canada that meet high standards for quality, affordability, accessibility, inclusion, and flexibility. The success of this plan—the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Care (CWELCC) initiative—will depend partly on whether changes to early learning and care meet the needs and expectations of parents. To learn about parents’ views, the Alberta Parent Survey on Early Learning and Child Care was conducted in 2022 with over 1400 parents in Alberta with young children. The present report, the third in a series based on this survey, is focused on accessibility. Parents’ Views About the Accessibility of Early Learning and Child Care in Alberta includes detailed findings and recommendations for optimizing the way in which the CWELCC is implemented in Alberta.