Early learning and child care in the 2021 federal budget

Following the commitment in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement to “lay out the plan to provide affordable, accessible, inclusive and high-quality child care from coast to coast to coast”, the federal budget released Monday April 19th 2021 provides a historic commitment to early learning and child care. The $27.2 billion over the next five years and commitment to build a “Canada-wide, community-based system of quality child care” represents the most significant federal financial and policy commitment to child care to date. This BRIEFing NOTE provides a summary of the commitments to early learning and child care laid out in the federal budget papers.