C-35 – Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act – is basically a framework Bill related to early learning and child care initiatives. It exists to establish the goals of the federal government in supporting those initiatives, and what it should work towards with provincial governments and Indigenous groups.
Declaration
Of course the first part of C-35 is the government’s declaration of what its goals are. The intention is to build and maintain a system where families have access to affordable ELCC programs regardless of where they live. The systems need to be flexible to support the needs of different communities and families, and also need to be able to support the ability of parents (especially mothers) to function in the economy. (Allow everyone to be able to hold a job while also making sure their children are receiving the proper amount of care)
The federal government will work with provinces and Indigenous peoples to support them in their efforts to provide these services. This is probably the more important part of C-35. This Bill is outlining what the feds are looking for in ELCC services and what they’re going to help with, but the exact details are still up to provincial governments and Indigenous groups.
The last part of the declaration is that Indigenous groups should be able to decide what their ELCC services look like.
Funding
Now we get into the meat of C-35, the outline of how money should be spent when it comes to Early Learning and Child Care services. This would be the part provinces and Indigenous groups need to watch when designing their systems, as it covers what they could expect to receive federal funds for.
First up it calls out that the feds are going to support public providers, not for profit child care. The funding also needs to help families of varying incomes have access to these services. Services will be expected to be inclusive and respect the diversity of children and their families, and should also be provided by well-supported early education staff.
Finally the feds commit to maintaining long-term funding for these programs, and that the funding needs to be provided through agreements with the provinces and/or Indigenous groups.
National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care
The last bit of C-35 covers the creation of the National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care. Most of this just covers the usual things you would expect, designating who’s in charge of the council, that members are considered government employees and are to be paid appropriately, they get travel expenses based on their work, etc.
The more important here is that the council will be in charge of monitoring the progress of provinces towards the federal government’s goals for ELCC programs, and to report back to the House on their findings as well as the government’s spending on these programs.
Status
C-35 went up for its second reading vote on Feb. 1, 2023 and passed with everyone in favour. It came back from committee with some fairly minor changes, just some adjustments to the wording to clarify a few clauses.
Time Allocation Motion
On June 6, 2023 a time allocation motion was proposed to avoid delays on getting C-35 passed. The Motion passed with 173 in favour and 147 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 149 | 0 | 0 |
| Conservative | 0 | 113 | 0 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| NDP | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| Green Party | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Independent | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Coming back from its committee consideration an amendment was proposed for C-35 by Michelle Ferreri (Conservative, Ontario, Peterborough—Kawartha) to remove its short title, changing it from “Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act” to “An Act Respecting Early Learning and Child Care in Canada”. Nobody seemed to have anything to say about this amendment so I’ve got no idea why this seemed necessary. This amendment was voted down with 114 in favour and 211 against.
| Party | For | Against | Paired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | 0 | 152 | 2 |
| Conservative | 113 | 0 | 1 |
| Bloc Quebecois | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| NDP | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| Green Party | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Independent | 0 | 2 | 0 |
The committee changes were then voted on. Not a lot to say on these, they pretty much just clarify that the program should provide high-quality service, be accessible regardless of location, and account for the needs of different cultures in different areas. Everyone voted in favour of these changes.
On June 19, 2023 C-35 went up for its Third Reading and passed with everyone voting in favour.
C-35 came back from the Senate with a minor change to some wording. The House accepted these changes with unanimous consent, and C-35 was then given Royal Assent.