Stats Can: Characteristics of Child Care Centres Serving Children 0–5

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

A recent study describes findings from Statistics Canada’s 2022 Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services (CSPCCS), the first national survey to provide a snapshot of child care services in Canada.

The report notes the significant increase in the use of child care for children aged 0-5 years old over the past several decades, and the increased federal-government commitment to funding, through bilateral agreements with provinces and territories (over $27.2 billion in 2021).

Findings from the 2022 Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services (CSPCCS), the first national survey to provide a snapshot of child care services in Canada, include:

·      Results suggest that there were 12,664 child care centres across Canada providing care to children aged 0 to 5 years in April 2022.

·      About 9 in 10 centres offered full-time care, two-thirds offered part-time care, and one-third offered before- or after-school care.

·      Less common options included drop-in or flexible care (16%) and care during evenings, on weekends or overnight (2%), suggesting that there are few centre-based care options for parents who work non-standard hours.

·      Around half of the centres were not-for-profit or government operated and had made accommodations for at least one child with a disability, and more than two-thirds of their staff had an early childhood education diploma or certificate, or higher.

·      In terms of the impact of COVID-19, 95% of centres had experienced at least one negative impact in the year prior to the survey, 42% reported one to three impacts and 53% reported four or more negative impacts.

Although the CSPCCS provides recent national information on the provision of child care services (as of April 2022), several limitations with respect to the sampling frame and the questionnaire were noted to inform future data collection activities.