Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a Canadian child. Source: Prime Minister Trudeau’s Flickr page.

 

“Accessible, inclusive, high quality early learning and child care is critical to giving children the best start in life. The Government has made historical investments of $7.5 billion over 11 years to provide quality, affordable child care across the country. By 2020, up to approximately 40,000 children may benefit from quality new subsidized child care spaces across Canada. This will support parents in the hard work they do for their families by giving them peace of mind with the knowledge that their children are getting the care they need and deserve.”

The quote above comes from “Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy,” a plan developed by Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada’s minister of Families, Children and Social Development. Duclos’ work drew on the input of thousands of Canadians that was gathered “through roundtables and town halls, in person and online, via conversations and conferences.”

Duclos explains that the plan is:

“…built on the belief that all Canadians deserve to be treated fairly and to have the means and the abilities to grow and fully participate in the development of their communities. And Canada’s first-ever poverty reduction strategy is built on the vision that all Canadians should have a sense of security and be hopeful that tomorrow will be better than today for them, for their loved ones and for the generations to come.”

Miles Corak, an economist who was invited to work on the plan, adds:

“Dignity, opportunity, resilience.

“These three words summarize the concerns the Minister heard. They reflect the moral purpose that motivates a poverty reduction strategy, that underlies the indicators and targets, and that ultimately makes the strategy useful.”

To learn more about Canada’s approach to early learning and child care, click here.

Finally, we’ll give the last word to Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, who said in a statement issued last year on National Child day:

“Our children deserve the very best.”