Policy & Legislation
Canada’s early childhood services remain immature. There are pockets of innovation and increased levels of investment, but service overlap prevails alongside large gaps. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has labelled Canada’s early childhood services an “uncoordinated patchwork of stand-alone, vulnerable service providers” with good reason.
Provincial/territorial programs for early childhood operate under a number of legislative and regulatory frameworks and administrative structures. Funds flow from different levels of government and different branches within the same government. Moreover, roles and responsibilities are in flux because of public sector restructuring. In fact, the most consistent characteristic of policy governing this age group may be chaos.