INFORMATION

NOVEMBER 2001

Federal/Provincial/Territorial Early Childhood Development Agreement: Report on Government of Canada Activities and Expenditures 2000-2001

Why is the Government of Canada reporting on its services for young children and their families?

Under the National Children’s Agenda, federal/provincial and territorial governments announced the Early Childhood Development (ECD) Agreement in September 2000. As part of the Agreement, a commitment was made by governments to report publicly on their progress in improving the health and well-being of young children.

Reporting will ensure that governments are accountable to the public for their early childhood development programs and services. It will also provide governments and others with a powerful tool to ensure that their actions are as and effective as possible, which provides baseline information for tracking future progress.

The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Early Childhood Development Agreement: Report on Government of Canada Activities and Expenditures 2000-2001 is the Government of Canada's first report under the Early Childhood Development Agreement.

How does the Government of Canada support young children?

The Government of Canada has made helping children and their families a
priority and plays an important role in providing a variety of early childhood development programs and services, although provincial and territorial governments have the primary responsibility for managing and delivering early childhood development programs and services.

In 2000, there were 2,172, 804 million children under age 6 in Canada representing 7.1 % of the population.

This report describes direct Government of Canada programs and services for children under six years of age and their families for 2000-2001 in the four areas for action set out in the Early Childhood Development Agreement which include:

• promoting healthy pregnancy, birth and infancy;
• improving parenting and family supports;
• strengthening early childhood development, learning and care; and
• strengthening community supports.
  

The Government of Canada’s programs and services for young children provide support to many of those children and their families each year. In 2000-2001, for example:

• over 170,000 families received maternity and/or paternity benefits through the Employment Insurance program.
• over 1.2 million families with children of all ages benefited from the Child Care Expense Deduction.
• the Community Action Program for Children reached over 47,000 families.
• combined, the First Nations and Aboriginal Head Start programs reached over 10,000 Aboriginal children.

The Government of Canada undertakes programs to promote healthy pregnancy, birth and infancy, the Government of Canada undertakes Programs such as the Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome/Fetal Alcohol Effects and Reducing the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

• Improving parenting and family supports, includes the Community Action Program for Children and Aboriginal Head Start (Urban and Northern Communities), which deliver direct services to children and families at risk, and Employment Insurance Maternity and Parental Benefits.
  
  
• Supports for early childhood development, learning and care include the Child Care Expense Deduction, the Canada Child Tax Benefit and Military Family Resource Centres.

The National Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention is a good example of community support.

Key research and public information initiatives, such as the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth and the Centres of Excellence for Children’s Well-Being, are also featured in the report.

As part of the Agreement, the Government of Canada will transfer $2.2 billion over five years to provincial and territorial governments through the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST), to support investments in early childhood development programs and services. The first instalment of $300 million has been transferred to the provinces and territories as of April 1, 2001.

* The Government of Quebec has stated that while sharing the same concerns as other governments on early childhood development, it does not adhere to the federal/provincial/territorial Early Childhood Development Agreement. The Government of Quebec is receiving its share of funding from the Government of Canada for early childhood development programs and services through the Canada Health and Social Transfer.

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