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Kindergarten for 5-year-olds is Canada’s only universal early years program and the only preschool program most children will experience. Although voluntary in all jurisdictions with the exception of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, 95 percent of eligible children across the country attend. The Northwest Territories, Yukon, British Columbia, Ontario, Québec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland all offer full-day kindergarten, meeting the needs of 75 percent of Canadian 5-year-olds. The other provinces and Nunavut provide part-day programs.
ECER 2017 estimates that 54 percent of children aged 2–4 years attend an early childhood education program, up slightly from the 51 percent reported in ECER 2014. This includes those participating in school-operated prekindergarten and parent/ child drop-in programs, licensed child care and Aboriginal Head Start. Participation is estimated.
A series of federal, provincial and territorial agreements propose that jurisdictions monitor the progress of ECE provision through annual reports. The 2017 Early Learning and Child Care Agreement has the same provision. In 2017, eleven provinces/territories have publicly-posted reports. Monitoring is an integral part of democratic accountability. It is essential for informed decision-making, ensuring that societal resources are deployed productively, scarce resources distributed equitably and social goals reached. Monitoring on its own does not deliver results, although it is a crucial part of a larger system designed to achieve them.
How child care is funded also makes a difference. All provinces and territories provide some form of direct operating support to child care programs. Direct funding takes the pressure off parent fees and provides a level of stability to programs that parent fees alone cannot provide. Subsidies for parent fees are administratively cumbersome for parents and subsidy managers. They are often insensitive to the cost of care and the dignity of the family. When subsidies don’t cover the fees charged by licensed programs, families are often unable to make up the difference forcing them to settle for unregulated options.