On May 14, 2019, Child Care Now and a coalition of allies hosted an event in Ottawa as part of a major effort to convince all federal parties to commit in their 2019 election platforms to building proper systems of early learning and child care.
Members of Parliament, senators, civil society, the labour movement, parents, child care workers, advocates and researchers came together in Ottawa for the launch of the Affordable Child Care for All Plan and the release of a new Oxfam report: Who cares? Why Canada needs a public child care system.
Compared to other OECD countries, Canada comes in lowest in public spending on early childhood education and care spending and well below the international benchmark of 1 per cent of GDP. International Monetary Fund researchers say that if the Canadian government reduced child care costs by 40 per cent (which would cost the government $8 billion), it could bring 150,000 mothers with high education levels into the workforce. That would result in a 2% expansion of Canada’s economy, or $8 billion; growth that could be used to finance other programs that advance gender equality.