washington business
Learning from Canada ’ s Child Care System
AWB Institute leads bipartisan legislative visit to see Canada child care programs up close .
Brian Mittge
Lawmakers and employers saw lots to learn from in a tour of Canada ’ s $ 10-per-day child care system — including a reminder that just putting money into the system won ’ t solve all of its problems .
At A Glance
The Legislator Education & Action Project , a joint venture of the AWB Institute and Children ’ s Campaign Fund Action , followed up its 2023 child care bus tour across Washington with a 2024 summer visit to Canada . The child care study tour visited early learning centers and talked with policy makers in Toronto and Ottawa in June to discuss Canadian investments in child care and early learning .
Canada ’ s federal government is making child care a national priority by dedicating $ 27 billion dollars over five years to create affordable and accessible child care . Canadian Senator Rosemary Moodie told AWB ’ s delegation in Ottawa the Canadian government estimates that by investing early , every $ 1 of government investment in child care has is a long-term return of between
$ 1.50 to $ 6.00 that will create stronger Canadian communities and save on future government spending .
Investments in the child care system have increased workforce participation . In
Quebec , universally subsidized child care has increased labor participation of mothers from 67 % to 83 %.
Washington Legislator Education & Action Project
www . washingtonleap . org
A bipartisan group of Washington state legislators joined the AWB Institute ’ s LEAP child care study tour ’ s visit to Canada this summer and met with a number of officials , including Canadian Sen . Rosemary Moodie ( center left ), from Ontario . Washington ’ s lawmakers , from left : Rep . Mary Fosse , Sen . Nikki Torres , Rep . Vandana Slatter , Moodie , Reps . Mari Leavitt , Tana Senn , Carolyn Eslick and Emily Alvarado .
During the Covid-19 pandemic , Canada passed a wide-ranging child care subsidy that allows parents to enroll their children for $ 10 a day .
Intrigued and curious about how this program is working on the ground , the Legislator Education & Action Program ( LEAP ), a cooperative venture of the AWB Institute and Children ’ s Campaign Fund Action , led a bipartisan delegation north in June to visit child care providers in Toronto and Ottawa .
Call it a gut-check to see how Washington and the USA are doing on an issue that is crucial to families , employees and employers .
While informative , the best part of the tour might have been the time it provided for leadership from both parties and both legislative chambers , along with business leaders , advocates , child care providers and agencies , to simply share their perspectives and reflect together on ways to improve our state ’ s child care system so that it meets the needs of all Washingtonians , big and small .
Rep . Carolyn Eslick , R-Sultan , was one of the bipartisan Washington state legislative delegation on the trip . She said seeing the Canadian system at work was helpful , as was the level playing field for Democrats and Republicans to sit down in a casual atmosphere and look ahead to solutions .
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