Child care spaces recommendations : Supporting Canadian children & families : addressing the gap between the supply and demand for high quality child care : report from the Ministerial Advisory Committee on the Government of Canada's Child Care Spaces Initiative

We were asked to develop recommendations for the implementation of the Child Care Spaces Initiative, including advice on the best approach and mechanisms to expand the availability of child care spaces across Canada, and to suggest ways to measure and monitor the success of the initiative. [...] The Committee reviewed the historical development and the social and economic context of child care in Canada and looked at current child care challenges from the perspective of families, caregivers and employers. [...] The Ministerial Advisory Committee’s terms of reference stated that the Committee was to: provide advice on the child care needs of Canadian families and the role and interests of employers, with a focus on improving accessibility to child care for all families; advise on the approach and mechanisms required to effectively design and implement the Child Care Spaces Initiative; and, provide formal [...] Specifically, the Committee’s terms of reference stated that the task was threefold: Provide advice on the child care needs of Canadian families and the role and interests of employers, with a focus on improving accessibility to child care for all families; Advise on the approach and mechanism required to effectively design and implement the Child Care Spaces Initiative; and Provide formal recomme [...] The Committee recognized the jurisdictional issues related to child care and focused on developing recommendations that fall within federal jurisdiction, while recognizing and respecting the lead role played by provincial/territorial and municipal governments in the delivery and funding of child care across the country.