The following op-ed by CUPE National Secretary-Treasurer appeared in the Hill Times on December 4, 2025.
As Prime Minister Carney continues to reverse or abandon many Trudeau-era policies, the government insists it remains committed to protecting national child care. However, recent agreements with Ontario and Saskatchewan signal that the government may be backsliding on one of the most important elements of the Canada Wide Early Learning and Child Care program: limiting the flow of public dollars to for-profit operators. As she continues to negotiate, Minister for Jobs and Families Patty Hajdu must not cave to the for-profit lobby.
On Friday, Saskatchewan announced that it had secured a five-year extension to its child care agreement with the federal government. Saskatchewan parents paying a third of what they were in daycare fees in 2021 are no doubt breathing a sigh of relief. But snuck into the agreement was a provision to allow commercial for-profit operators to set up shop in the province using public funds – an approach that will spell disaster for families and workers.
Last month, Ontario announced that it had signed only a one-year extension to their child care agreement. Similar to Saskatchewan, Ontario signalled that the one-year agreement was a way to buy time to negotiate more federal funds for more for-profit centres. Under Ontario’s current agreement, federal funding must be predominantly directed to public and not-for-profit providers. At least 70% of licensed child care spaces for children under six in Ontario are supposed to be in the not-for-profit sector.
Prioritizing public and not-for-profit providers in the child care program was intended to ensure that public money went to delivering services, not boosting the profit margins of commercial child care operators. It was also to protect quality. The quality of care at for-profit centres tends to be worse, as operators try to spend less on materials, staff, and programming in order to increase profits.
Though popular, the child care program is far from perfect. The system continues to be plagued by long wait lists, inequitable access for families, and shortages of qualified staff. Both Ontario and Saskatchewan are trying to sell for-profit care as a solution to these issues.
Even if we put the risks to quality aside, handing over more public money to for-profit operators will not expand access. For-profit child care centres operate where it is most profitable to do so, not where the need is greatest. Lifting the cap on private operators will leave far too many families stranded in child care deserts. Waitlists will grow in communities most in need.
There are better ways to expand spaces. First, we need more workers in the system. No province has enough child care workers to meaningfully increase access. In October, Ontario’s auditor general warned that the province needs to recruit 10,000 more early childhood educators by 2026. To do this, governments need to increase wages and benefits. Both the Saskatchewan and Ontario agreements include funding to enhance workers’ wages but it isn’t nearly enough. Child care workers do essential work caring for and educating our children. With low hourly wages, limited benefits, and no pension, few feel able to join – and remain in – the profession. The federal and provincial governments need to increase funding to deliver significant wage boosts, better benefits, and pensions for everyone working in the sector.
Second, governments could make more use of existing public infrastructure (schools, hospitals, municipal buildings, public housing, and universities) to deliver more spaces. This is faster than building new centres and makes use of spaces that are at or near where parents live and work. It also integrates child care into the public system, where quality is higher and staff turnover is lower.
The federal government was right to limit funding to public and not-for-profit providers. As they negotiate a longer-term agreement in Ontario, an extension in Alberta, and action plans in the remaining provinces and territories, they need to stay strong in keeping profits out of child care. I urge the federal government to increase funding and require provinces to implement solutions that expand access, protect workers, and increase affordability for families.