How Trudeau’s daycare program limits parental choice and diminishes quality childcare

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Finding affordable, quality childcare is a concern for working parents all across Canada and in the usual fashion, the Justin Trudeau Liberals have swooped in to make matters worse.

After Trudeau eliminated Harper's family tax cut, Canadian families now face financial strain from rising taxes, inflation, and high childcare costs, forcing both parents to work to manage increasing expenses.

With nearly half of young children in childcare and waitlists growing, Trudeau’s Liberals pledged $30 billion over five years for Early Learning and Child Care Agreements starting in 2022. After this period, the program will need an astonishing $9.2 billion annually to sustain the already fiscally flopping initiative.

The program aimed to cut childcare fees by 50% and offer $10-a-day childcare. Liberal Minister Jenna Sudds touts it as saving families thousands, annually.

High-quality, affordable child care is a necessity, let’s not let Pierre take it away. pic.twitter.com/OWtX6BPQcj

— Jenna Sudds (@JennaSudds) August 5, 2024

Except that the data paints a different picture.

According to Stats Canada, the number of children aged zero to five who need childcare has decreased
since 2019. Adding insult to injury, the number of children on waitlists for care surged nearly 10 percent in the first year of the program’s launch, from 2022 to 2023.

This trend dates back to at least 2019 with “the proportion” of those “who reported lack of availability increasing from 7% in 2019 to 18% in 2023.” The data similarly shows that only centre-based childcare resulted in any tangible decrease in expenses.

Krystal Churcher, chair of the Association of Alberta Childcare Entrepreneurs (AACE), blasts the program's labelling as “a feminist social policy” as absurd. She argues that it undermines her role as a mother and female entrepreneur, along with other childcare providers, by stifling the ability to successfully (and independently) run programming.

Churcher further slams the program for restricting access to diverse childcare options and limiting parental choice, resulting in a “Walmart-style” childcare experience that degrades children's care.

Since childcare was originally under provincial jurisdiction, previous grants and funding have disappeared since the federal government has taken control.

The AACE launched an At What Cost campaign, highlighting issues with cash flow, inflation, administrative burdens, the erosion of operational control, compromises to quality and inclusivity and access to reliable childcare.

“There is no access to this program,” Churcher explains. “It sounds wonderful. The intention behind this to provide affordable childcare to Canadians is very well deserved for families to have, but when only one in three families can actually get a $ 10-a-day space it's an illusion of equity and access.”

Churcher furthers that it really means parents have to go into a situation where they take what they can get out of desperation, or they’re on a waitlist with hundreds of other families and their children will age out of care before a space ever opens up.

Echoing issues that persist across the country, the AACE has formed a National Committee on Childcare Reform, calling for an envelope funding model from the federal government, similar to what already happens in Quebec.

The federal government, focused on “lived experiences,” has overlooked the concerns of childcare providers and families affected by the rise of large, institutional childcare centers. There is growing suspicion that research foundations, lobbyists, and unions are exploiting the need for affordable childcare to push an agenda that institutionalizes the system, sidelining the free market where individuals could directly pay for services and employees.