CUPE has written to Minister of Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu with a clear message: Canada’s child care system is one of the most important public programs in a generation – and it’s at serious risk already.
In a letter sent earlier this month, CUPE National President Mark Hancock and National Secretary-Treasurer Candace Rennick expressed how the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care program has already made a real difference in the lives of millions of families. Fees are coming down, wages are improving, and families are finding real relief. This is what happens when governments listen to workers and invest in care as a public good.
However, $10-a-day child care is at risk. No level of government has invested enough to recruit and retain the workforce needed to deliver child care to all the families who need it. Several provinces have failed to meet the target of $10-a-day average fees by 2026. Now, instead of investing in expanding universal access, some provinces and the federal government have begun finger-pointing and threatening to resort to failed policies to flow more funding into private coffers instead of strengthening public and not-for-profit care.
CUPE is calling on the federal government to urgently recommit to the principles in the Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act to keep child care public and not-for-profit, and invest in the people and infrastructure that have made this program a success.
Read the full letter here.