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Excerpt: "More Métis families will benefit from increased access to culturally based child care with more than 200 new child care spaces opening or on the way. “Métis children and families benefit from access to culturally relevant and high-quality early education,” said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care. “This is why our government is working with Métis Nation BC to support the creation of new child care centres for Métis communities. By supporting our younger learners in environments that honour their culture, we’re helping to build stronger, more resilient communities.” Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) has received $13.9 million in federal funding since 2022 through B.C.’s Ministry of Education and Child Care to create five new child care facilities that cater to the cultural needs of Métis families."

Excerpt: "Three new AHS centres are providing a total of 108 new child care spaces, including 48 spaces in Colwood, 44 in Kelowna and 20 in Vancouver. AHS is a culturally relevant early-learning and child care program for Indigenous children up to age six and their families that provides wraparound family support and inclusion services at no cost."

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Dr. Petr Varmuza

Excerpt: "Ontario’s first “Service Plan for Child Care Services” (1992) came into existence as a negotiated response to successive provincial governments’ dislike of Toronto’s long-standing effort to move beyond the administration of the child care subsidy system and equitably manage the provision of services across, what was then, Metropolitan Toronto. Additionally, the provision of municipally operated child care centres was a special target, as it is now, regardless the important function they played in the most disadvantaged communities.

Since then, service plans became a provincially mandated documents usually produced on a five-year cycle consisting of listening to the service providers and soliciting public input primarily from parents searching for child care or child care subsidy. Rarely there is a formal, public review of the accomplishments since the approval of the previous plan, including the full range of successes and failures. Once approved by the municipal authority, they often undergo minimum public scrutiny, ongoing evaluation and review."

I want to take a moment to express my heartfelt appreciation for joining us at the Centre for Black Studies in Education’s 2nd Anniversary Celebration on September 5.

Excerpt: "The Women’s Economic Security Program offers training in four streams: skilled trades, entrepreneurship, information technology, and general employment. To help remove barriers to participating, the training programs also include additional supports such as providing meals throughout the training day, transportation to and from training, and support finding child care."

Excerpt: "As Canada rushes to $10 per day child care an unsettling finding emerged out of a study on the Ontario early childhood workforce. When describing conditions in their workplace, a number of educators said they wouldn’t recommend their centre to a friend or family member looking for child care. Results varied by region, yet on average 6 per cent of educators said ‘no’ when asked if they would recommend their own program. Another 8 per cent said they were unsure. The percentage of concerned staff is thankfully small, but it still represents hundreds of educators working in hundreds of child care centres across the province."

Excerpt: "Students heading back to class will now be able to get a nutritious meal or snack when they need one, with the universal school nutrition program now available in every school in the province, Premier Wab Kinew and Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Nello Altomare announced today. “Kids can’t learn on an empty stomach,” said Kinew. “We made a commitment to Manitoba families that we’d make sure kids across our province had access to food when they go to school, and we’ve delivered on that promise. As kids head back to class this week, they’ll be able to get a meal or a snack when they need one, so they can concentrate, learn and reach their full potential.” The Manitoba government committed $30 million in Budget 2024 to make a meal or snack available to students across the province."