The Liberals and Conservatives are both vowing to preserve nationally subsidized child care, one of the Trudeau government’s signature social programs.
Even so, some child-care experts are skeptical the Tories would keep the program in its current form.
“I’m … very concerned about some of the comments that the [Conservative] leader has made during the campaign trail,” said Morna Ballantyne, executive director at Child Care Now, an advocacy association. “It raises a lot of questions about the future of the … program.”
Others are concerned — but not surprised — that the leading parties are not detailing how they would address what they see as key shortcomings with the program, such as long waitlists and declining quality of care.
“I had zero expectations that [the Liberals] would actually acknowledge that this program has challenges [that] should be fixed and is not serving children in the way it should,” said Krystal Churcher, chair of the advocacy group Alberta Association of Childcare Entrepreneurs.
The Liberal plan
The Liberals’ platform promises to expand the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Plan, which it hails as “a core part of Canada’s social infrastructure.”
This program, first introduced by the Trudeau government in 2021, is administered by the provinces, which have each signed separate funding agreements with Ottawa. The program is projected to cost Ottawa $30 billion in its first five years.
Currently, the program subsidizes about 900,000 children across the country — a number that includes subsidized child-care spots that existed before 2021. The Trudeau government added about 150,000 new subsidized spots, and pledged funding to cover an additional 100,000 by next year.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney has said a Carney government would add an additional 100,000 new child-care spaces by 2031.
“That is a slower rate of expansion than what the Liberal government’s program set out … in the first five years,” said Ballantyne.
The Liberal platform says a Carney government would “require” provinces and municipalities to expand child care in public and community buildings, such as schools and community centres. It would “link” child care with housing development on sites that receive federal funding. And it would negotiate set wages and benefits for child-care workers with the provinces.
Andrea Hannen, executive director of the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario, says the Liberals’ platform is notably silent on for-profit child centres. The association represents both non-profit and for-profit child-care centres.
Many for-profit operators have criticized the Liberal government for limiting the participation of for-profit centres in the subsidized program. They say caps on for-profit participation are unfair and undercut other program goals, such as expanding subsidized spaces and ensuring high quality of care.
“The problem with [the caps] is that it necessarily means service disruptions for families,” said Hannen, in an emailed statement. “These spaces will not be replaced as quickly as they are destroyed, therefore, child care will be in short supply for the foreseeable future.”
Martha Friendly, executive director at Childcare Resource and Research Unit, a research institute, says limits on for-profit centres’ participation is meant to ensure federal money goes solely towards child care, and not into the pockets of operators.
Churcher says this rationale misunderstands the value for-profit operators bring to families, children and communities.
“This program … has absolutely stripped the value away from our businesses, completely disregarded our investment and what we’ve done for our communities and the dependency that Canada has on for-profit and private child care,” she said.
The Conservative plan
In their platform, the Conservatives pledge to preserve the subsidized child-care agreements that Ottawa has already signed with the provinces. And it promises to work with the provinces to create nationally-recognized licences for different professions, including early childhood educators.
The Conservatives have, however, long been critical of the subsidized program for limiting parent choice and flexibility. In a March 25 campaign rally in Vaughan, Ont., Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said a Tory government would change the “one-size-fits-all model” to another system that would offer “all child-care options.”
Poilievre said he would offer more funding to parents whose work schedules do not align with the 9 to 5 model of most child-care centres. He also said he would increase funding for those who want home-based care or private child care.
“For parents, provinces and providers, we will massively expand the availability of child care and reduce the bureaucracy that stands in the way,” Poilievre said at the rally.
However, the Conservatives’ platform makes no mention of these proposals. The party did not respond to a request for comment.
“I’m disappointed and also deeply disturbed, because when you are not clear and specific about the future of a child-care program or any social program, it really stirs up a lot of fear,” said Ballantyne, noting many parents are worried about what a Tory win would mean for their current child-care arrangements.
Hannen and Churcher both support calls for reform. Both have advocated for subsidized child care that prioritizes low-income families, who are often stuck on waitlists to access subsidized care.
“We want to see it be an equitable system where all operators and different forms of child care have access to the funding, and that families then have access to all those different models of care,” said Hannen.
Churcher’s association has called for a system where provinces receive envelope funding from Ottawa to distribute among families to use on any form of child care they choose.
Friendly disagrees with this approach. She says the Harper government’s Universal Child Care Benefit, which gave parents up to $160 a month for each child, was too low to cover child-care costs, which averaged between $175 and $1,000 a month by 2015.
In 2016, the benefit was replaced with the current Canada Child Benefit, which unlike its predecessor, is income tested and non-taxable. Parents can now receive up to about $650 a month for children under six.
Friendly says issues with the current subsidized program are mainly due to shortcomings with how the provinces have implemented it. She expects these difficulties will be resolved over time.
“I’m not saying that what we have now is perfect,” she said. “But it has moved a great deal from where it was … this is still early days.”
But Churcher says problems in the program are reaching a head — and drastic change is needed soon.
“I think that any government coming in — should [it be] Conservative, Liberal, whoever is going to be the one in charge of this program — needs to really start to run the numbers and see how they can make this program sustainable,” she said.
Correction, April 25, 2025 8:56 pm: A previous version of this article incorrectly said the Association of Day Care Operators of Ontario has called for a system where provinces receive envelope funding from Ottawa to distribute among families to use on any form of child care they choose.
