Childcare Trends: Statistics Influencing Universal Funding Proposals

The federal government has pledged to put $7 Billion in funding into childcare support, and some provinces intend to add more. Do you think this is a good idea? Statistics Canada released data in October 2014 focusing on who uses childcare in Canada, which may impact your opinion. Weigh in and share your thoughts before this month’s poll closes.

The General Social Survey reported the following statistics for 2011:

• Almost half of parents (46 percent) used childcare of some variety for children under the age of 14. Fifty-four percent of these children were age 4 and under.
• The majority of parents who used childcare did so regularly.
• There were three primary types of childcare arrangements used for children 4 and under, and the arrangements varied by province:
  • 33 percent used daycare centres
  • 31 percent used home daycare
  • 28 percent used private arrangements

The top choice for parents from the Prairie provinces was private childcare. Before and after school programs were the most common type of childcare arrangement for school-aged children in Quebec, Ontario and Eastern Canada.

Outside of the province of Quebec, very young children were usually placed in the care of relatives, nannies and other private arrangements. In Quebec, however, home daycares and daycare centres were used almost exclusively. In fact, parents from Quebec reported the highest rates of childcare use—a result of the fact that it is the only province that has a universal child daycare program.

What did parents consider when weighing their childcare options? Location was the most important influencer for 33 percent, with trust in the care provided coming in second at 18 percent.

Sixty-nine percent of parents reported that they were very satisfied with the quality of their childcare arrangements, while 29 percent claimed to be satisfied.

Do the trends pertaining to childcare use in Canada influence how you feel about the new funding proposals? Should governments spend more on universal childcare? Cast your vote and share your thoughts in our April poll!

Additional educational resources:

For more information on the provisions of the 2018 federal budget, check out our Budget Report. Also attend the Spring CE Summits in one of four Canadian cities, focusing on post-budget action strategies.

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