Dear Associate Minister Indira Naidoo-Harris and Minister Mitzie Hunter,
The Ryerson Student Childcare Advocacy Association (RSCAA) would like to begin by commending your government's renewed commitment to child care in Ontario. As a group of incumbent early childhood educators, the announcement of funding for 100,000 new child care spaces was widely celebrated. Many of us, however, celebrated cautiously, as expanding child care is about much more than providing “spaces” and “jobs”. Child care in Ontario needs a renewed vision centered on high quality care for children. As four-year degree and Master’s students, we wish to emphasize that quality cannot be achieved without well-trained, well-educated and passionate educators. Secure attachments through responsive relationships with well-educated and adequately remunerated ECEs and staff will make the difference between 100 000 child care spaces and quality, enriching and stable care environments.
In Building a Better Future (2016), you reflect quality as a critical factor in early childhood programs (p. 2). We are concerned however that the discussion paper does not fully recognize the role played by well-educated and well remunerated workforce in actualizing “quality”. While the $2 wage-enhancement grant often referred to by your government on this matter was certainly welcome, it is still ultimately rooted in a market system of care which continues to systematically devalue the work we do. Furthermore, it is available to both non-profit and for-profit centres reinforcing the current market system. As we are sure you are aware, upwards of 80% of non-profit childcare centre operating budgets go towards staff salaries - the key factor in recruiting and retaining quality ECEs. Conversely, in for-profit centres, the key mechanism of making a profit is paying staff lower wages and/or expecting greater “productivity” at the low/stagnant wages in place. In this way, the government is letting for-profit centres off-the-hook on this matter (the government is picking up the slack) ultimately undermining our value across the board. We recognize this was by no way the intention of your government but we urge you to recognize the unintended policy consequences.
At the same time, our current market system means that parent fees are the largest source of revenue for childcare centres. Defaulting to the current market system means that to increase staff wages centres would need to charge parents higher fees - something that most ECEs feel is unethical to demand of parents given that parent fees are already alarmingly high. Our interests should not conflict with the interests of parents and their children. Our interests, like the interests communicated by your government, are one in the same - ensuring children have access to safe, nurturing, responsive and stimulating care environments. We urge your government to address the failing market system of childcare through increasing supply-side funding exclusively to public and non-profit child care centres. This would result in lower parent fees and address quality through rewarding the non-profit and public centres that consistently prioritize good wages and working conditions of ECEs and other staff.
Building A Better Future (2016) also highlights the Child Care and Early Years Act as a step towards improving regulations and quality. It is important to point out that for-profit centres are more likely to lobby for decreasing existing quality and safety regulations (i.e., fewer staff, more children, decreased outdoor space, etc.). By investing in public and non-profit child care, the government retains the ability to monitor and ensure basic health and safety regulations do not become vulnerable to the downward pressure of growing childcare companies.
To reiterate, the RSCAA commends the Ontario government's renewed interest and historic investment in childcare and early years programs. Your government has successfully created the opportunity to develop a child care and early years’ system that is responsive, affordable, accessible and high-quality. We now urge you to use this opportunity in the best interests of Ontario’s children and families. The first concrete action that must be taken in pursuit of this goal is to ensure that a supply-side funding model is implemented whereby public monies are exclusively reserved for existing and new non-profit/public centres. Alongside this, we urge you to position the well-being and opportunity of the workforce as a central component of quality. It is simply impossible to build high quality childcare system without us.
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