Preface

In September 2000, the Government of Canada, in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, reached an agreement to improve and expand the services and programs they provide for children under 6 years of age and their families(1). In the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Early Childhood Development Agreement, Canada’s First Ministers committed to help young children reach their potential, and to help families and the communities in which they live support their children.

Under the Agreement, governments committed to report regularly to Canadians on outcome indicators of young children’s well-being. Governments identified a common set of 11 indicators of well-being which provide valuable information on the physical health and early development of young children in Canada.

This report fulfills the Government of Canada’s commitment to report on the well-being of Canada’s young children. This is the second outcome indicators report published by the Government of Canada; the first The Well-Being of Canada’s Young Children: Government of Canada Report 2002 was released on November 20, 2002.

This report provides a discussion of the environment in which young Canadian children are growing up and the impact it has on their well-being. In particular, the report focuses on two aspects of environment—the physical environment (including food, air, water and soil) and the family environment. In addition, the report continues to monitor the indicators set out by the Government of Canada in last year’s report, The Well-Being of Canada’s Young Children: Government of Canada Report 2002. In addition to the common set of indicators of children’s physical health and early development agreed to by all governments, this report also includes measures of key family and community influences on child well-being. The data presented in this report are for 2000–2001, building on the 1998–1999 baseline established last year. Future reports will continue to report on these indicators to allow for more detailed tracking over time.

As part of their commitment to public reporting in the Early Childhood Development Agreement, governments also agreed to report annually to Canadians on their progress in enhancing early childhood development programs and services.

As a complement to the information in this report, the reader may wish to refer to Early Childhood Development Activities and Expenditures: Government of Canada Report 2002–2003, which provides information on the progress the Government of Canada has made in enhancing early childhood development programs and services. This report also includes the Government of Canada’s baseline report on early learning and child care programs and services as agreed to in the March 2003 Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care.

While the Government of Quebec supports the general principles of the ECD Agreement, it did not participate in developing this initiative because it intends to preserve its sole responsibility on social matters. However, Quebec receives its share of federal funding and the Government of Quebec is making major investments toward programs and services for families and children.