In July 2021, the first edition of the Roadmap to Universal Child Care in Ontario was released by the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare (OCBCC) and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario (AECEO). The Roadmap set out our vision and shared our path forward but did not delve deeply into each area of transformation needed.
Our sector continues to face exciting successes, changes, challenges, and ebbs and flows with the implementation of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System. We believe as we continue on the journey of system-building, the knowledge, experience and innovation of Ontario’s ELCC community should lead the way.
While we work on the second edition of the Roadmap, we will be releasing shorter reports that discuss specific issues in more detail or spotlight innovative practices and programs in Ontario. Scroll down to access these publications in PDF.
Check back regularly for new papers, policy briefs and program profiles that complement the work laid out on the Roadmap and highlight the important work the Ontario Early Learning & Child Care community is currently doing.
NEW! Policy Brief 2: Ontario Child Care Funding Formula
In the latest publication from the OCBCC & AECEO’s Policy Brief series, Dr. Gordon Cleveland outlines what a new Ontario child care funding formula should do in order to be successful. It is anticipated that Ontario will release and implement a new child care funding formula in 2024-2025. This brief summarizes what elements should be considered, what options exist, and how to evaluate the efficacy of any new Ontario funding proposal. This brief will help inform the community’s evaluative processes, feedback and further refinements to Ontario’s forthcoming funding approach. Click here to access the full document in PDF.
NEW! Program Profile 3: Windsor-Essex Registered Early Childhood Educators Mentorship Program
In the third program profile in our series, Alicia Graovac and Barb Brown describe an innovative mentorship program in Southwestern Ontario. The Windsor-Essex Registered Early Childhood Educators (W.E.R.E.C.E.) Mentorship Program is a formalized and comprehensive mentorship program for early learning professionals in the Windsor-Essex region. Click here to access Program Profile 3 in PDF.
Position Paper and Policy Brief on Publicly Funded Salary Scale
Following extensive consultation with Early Childhood Educators, child care workers and sector experts, we have developed a Position Paper to tackle one of the most pressing issues holding back the successful building of the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care System (CWELCC) in Ontario: the child care workforce crisis.
We describe the root causes of the current crisis and recommend a publicly funded salary scale of at least $30-$40 per hour for RECEs and at least $25 per hour for non-RECE staff as part of a comprehensive workforce strategy and compensation framework. Click on the image to find the full Position Paper and Policy Brief.
Program Profile: Reimagining Quality
In the Roadmap, we described how, “a growing number of early childhood education and care theorists and philosophers have called for a rethinking
of dominant, technical approaches to defining and monitoring quality” and that, “it is the important role of well-educated early childhood educators with decent work who bring “quality” to life through caring relationships and pedagogy with young children and families.”
The dominant narrative of quality is that it is universal, objective, and measurable through standardized evaluations, however, we know this is not the case. Quality is subjective, it is relative, and it can look completely different in different contexts. With that in mind, we’d like to invite you to learn and think alongside the Reimagining Quality Project, a partnership between Dufferin County and the Seneca College Lab School. We hope you find inspiration, joy, and excitement in imagining how you might begin to reimagine quality in your work.
Program Profile: Learning Enrichment Foundation
In this Program Profile we join the Learning Enrichment Foundation on their journey of learning with and from Indigenous Peoples and allies. We explore their work to provide outdoor play experiences that support relationships with the natural world in an urban setting, including their implementation of a seasonal pedagogy approach and their collaboration on the research project Designing and Implementing Environmental Inquiry Strategies in Early Years Programs.