By the Numbers: 8 reasons why Canada needs serious investment in Child Care

Ottawa – September 25, 2013

1.      Canadian research shows that every dollar invested in high quality child care programs increases GDP by $2.30 – far ahead of stimulus from construction and manufacturing.

2.      In the long term every public dollar invested in high quality child care programs returns $2.45 in economic benefits.

3.      There are 4.8 million children in Canada in 2012, and 3.09 million of them have moms who are in the paid workforce. (2012)

4.      While there are 3.09 million moms in the paid workforce, there are only 986,842 regulated child care spaces in Canada. (2012)

5.      That means only a fraction of families who need childcare have access to a regulated full or part-time child care space. (2012)

6.      The age group growing at the highest rate in Canada is 0 to 4 years – representing the fastest growth rate Canada has seen in the past 50 years (11% since 2006), according to 2011 Census.

7.      Parent fees are often higher than university tuition. Average full-time monthly parent fees in full-day centres in 2012:

• $761 ($1,152 in ON; $152 in QC) for infants

• $701 ($925 in ON; $152 in QC) for toddlers

• $674 ($835 in ON; $152 in QC) for pre-schoolers

8.      Provincial and territorial budgets allocated $3,670 million for regulated child care spaces in 2011/2012, about 1.4 percent of their total revenue.

Source: 2011 Census; Early childhood education and care in Canada 2012(ECEC)