Canada ‒ Manitoba Canada-wide early learning and child care agreement

EXCERPTS

1.0 Vision for Canada-wide early learning and child care

1.1 Canada will be guided by the long-term vision and objectives set out in the Multilateral Framework in making investments in early learning and child care committed in Budget 2021 across jurisdictions. Canada and Manitoba agree that the long-term vision and objectives for Canada-wide ELCC set out in the Multilateral Framework will guide the investment of funds provided under this Agreement. This includes the vision that all families in Canada have access to high-quality, affordable, flexible and inclusive early learning and child care no matter where they live.

1.2 Canada and Manitoba aspire to the following objectives:

• providing a 50% reduction in average parent fees for regulated ELCC by the end of 2022 and reaching an average of $10 a day by fiscal year 2025 to 2026 for all regulated child care spaces
• creating more high-quality, affordable regulated child care spaces, primarily through not-for-profit and public child care and home-based child care providers
• addressing barriers to provide inclusive and flexible child care
• valuing the early childhood workforce and providing them with training and development opportunities

1.3 Canada and Manitoba agree that progress toward this vision will be undertaken by prioritizing federal investments in support of regulated early learning and child care and for children under age 7.

2.0 Canada-wide early learning and child care objectives and areas of investment

2.1.1 Canada and Manitoba commit to the following objectives:

• affordability:
  • Manitoba commits to using federal funding to reduce out-of-pocket parent fees for regulated ELCC spaces for children under age 7 by an average of 50% from 2019 levels by the end of 2022
  • Manitoba commits to using federal funding to reduce out-of-pocket parent fees for full-time regulated ELCC spaces for children under age 7 to an average of $10 per day by the end of fiscal year 2025 to 2026
• accessibility:
  • Manitoba commits to using federal funding to increase the net number of affordable, high-quality and inclusive early learning and child care regulated not-for-profit spaces by 23,000 for children under age 7 by fiscal year 2025 to 2026
  • in creating these 23,000 child care spaces, Manitoba commits that:
    • federal funding will be used exclusively to support not-for-profit, public child care providers/operations, as well as family-based child care
    • federal funding will be exclusively used to support regulated child care delivery by licensed providers
• quality:
  • Manitoba commits to use federal funds to demonstrate meaningful progress on improving quality, including:
    • developing and implementing evidence based quality frameworks, standards, and tools for early learning and child care
    • developing a wage grid for Early Childhood Educators and committing to its implementation
    • increasing the percentage of child care workers providing regulated child care in the province who fully meet Manitoba’s certification requirements by 15 percentage points by fiscal year 2025 to 2026. This will be complemented by measures outlined in Annex 2
• inclusive:
  • Manitoba commits to develop and fund a plan to ensure that vulnerable communities, including children with disabilities and children needing enhanced or individual supports, Indigenous children, Black and other racialized children, children of newcomers, and official language minorities, have equitable access to regulated child care spaces with consideration to their assessed need for child care as part Manitoba’s enhanced public planning efforts to implement a Canada-wide system
  • in supporting inclusive child care, Manitoba commits:
    • to track the number of inclusive spaces with inclusive programming created/converted as well as the annual public expenditures on child care programming dedicated to children from diverse and/or vulnerable families
• data sharing and reporting:
  • Manitoba commits to share financial and administrative data needed to monitor progress in establishing the Canada-wide system

2.1.2 Manitoba’s policy and approach to achieving these objectives is set out in its Action Plan attached as Annex 2.

2.2 Eligible areas of investment

2.2.1 Manitoba agrees to use funds provided by Canada under this Agreement to support the expansion of regulated child care, and prioritize not-for-profit (including publically delivered and home-based child care) early learning and child care programs and services, for children under the age of 7, where:

• regulated programs and services are defined as those that meet standards that are established and/or monitored by provincial/territorial governments and Indigenous governments and authorities
• not-for-profit providers/operations, which includes publically delivered operations, are defined as those that provide child care services to a community for a purpose other than generating a profit, typically improving family and/or child well-being and/or development. Providers may generate a profit, but the surplus earnings, or other resources, are directed towards improving child care services rather than distributed for the personal benefit of owners, members, investors or to enhance asset growth. Early learning and child care programs and services are defined as those supporting direct care and early learning for children in settings including, but not limited to, regulated child care centres, regulated family child care homes, early learning centres, preschools and nursery schools

2.2.2 In developing and delivering its ELCC programs and services, Manitoba agrees to take into account the needs of official language minority communities in its jurisdiction.

2.2.3 Acceptable investments under this Agreement may include, but are not limited to: capital and operating funding for regulated ELCC; fee subsidies; training, professional development and support for the early childhood workforce; quality assurance; parent information and referrals; and certain administration costs incurred by Manitoba to support the growth and expansion of the child care system, and the implementation and administration of this Agreement.

2.2.4 Canada and Manitoba also agree to promote, define, and deliver innovative approaches to enhance the quality, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, and inclusivity of ELCC systems, with consideration for those more in need.

2.2.5 Canada and Manitoba agree that funding will be targeted toward regulated programs and activities, as described above, for children under age 7, that will have an impact on families, including families more in need such as lower-income families, Indigenous families, lone-parent families, and families in underserved communities, including Black and racialized families; families of children with disabilities and children needing enhanced or individual supports; and families with caregivers who are working non-standard hours. Needs also include having limited or no access to ELCC programs and services in the children’s official language.

3.0 Period of agreement

3.1 This Agreement shall come into effect upon the last signature being affixed and will remain in effect until March 31, 2026, unless terminated in writing by Canada or Manitoba in accordance with the terms hereof in section 10. Funding provided under this Agreement, in accordance with section 4, will cover the period from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2026.

3.2 Canada-wide early learning and child care bilateral agreements

3.2.1 Extension of this Agreement beyond March 31, 2026 will provide Manitoba and Canada the opportunity to review and course correct, if required, and realign new priorities in future Agreements based on progress made to date.

3.2.2 In the event this Agreement is extended in accordance with the terms of sections 3.2.1 and 9.0, Manitoba may continue to use funding provided to cover the same eligible areas of investment as those covered through funding received for the period 2021 to 2026 subject to the terms and conditions of that extended agreement.

4.0 Financial provisions

4.1 These contributions are in addition to and not in lieu of those that Canada currently pays to Manitoba through the Canada Social Transfer in order to support early childhood development and ELCC within Manitoba.

4.2 Allocation to Manitoba

4.2.1 Subject to Parliamentary approval of appropriations, Canada has designated the following maximum amounts to be transferred in total to all provinces and territories under this initiative with a fixed base rate of $2 million per year for each province and territory and the balance of the funding on a per child (0 to 12) basis for the period starting on April 1, 2021 and ending on March 31, 2026. This funding includes financial commitments made as part of the 2021 to 2026 Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreements:

• $2,948,082,433 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2021
• $4,489,349,839 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2022
• $5,538,345,183 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2023
• $6,492,201,954 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2024
• $7,718,943,823 for the fiscal year beginning on April 1, 2025